Will Obama's Strategy Really Work?

Thirteen years ago yesterday the United States foreign policy took an entirely new direction, when we focussed on fighting terrorism instead of nation states as a whole in order to stop Al Queada. Two wars later we no longer have the will to fight a war against an enemy who is fundamentally indistinguishable in ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria). The American public even today will not support a full scale intervention in Iraq as shown in a former gallop poll with 53% of the American public disapproving Iraq War (Gallop). So after Obama's speech on only limited "targeted" strikes to "degrade" ISIS, in which he is yet to use a clearly defined strategy. We don't fully know how this plan will be implemented or from where.  Part of what we do know of Obama's policy on ISIS is  forming a coalition that will cut off the cash supply to ISIS along with potentially attack it from the air (Caldwell). Today Obama ponders the use of force in Iraq let alone Syria, but will the US need more than airstrikes to really "destroy" and "degrade" ISIS?

As President Obama struggles to maintain a 43% approval rating when it comes to his current role as commander and chief, this may be due to his current stance on ISIS. A recent CNN/ORC poll shows that seven in ten american believe that ISIS is a credible threat to the United States and should be dealt with by military force. This level of fear is almost equal to the same level the US public felt towards Al Queada in 2003 which was 49%, compared to the 45% the US see's ISIS today.  With public support for US airstrikes at 76% and aid support at 62%, Obama is clearly using all resources he has to fight ISIS without putting boots on the ground. As the US public would vehemently disapprove of  US boots on the ground according to a current poll which stated that 61% of the public would disapprove of such action. However with congressional approval, Obama would have 80% for any military action against ISIS (Preston). Congressional approval would be key if Obama would like to win the support of the American public as he potentially drags them into a third Iraqi war, with public support for the last one so low.

Obama has yet to decide a conclusive plan to fight ISIS, only using a certain number of airstrikes within Iraq. However while saying he was determined to "destroy" ISIS he refrained from that very same word by saying he wanted to "manage" ISIS later in his speech. This was most likely due to the unlikeliness of the US and its NATO partners to destroy ISIS through the air let alone using troops on the ground. America's most important NATO ally in the region, Turkey who has opposed US intervention in Iraq on several occasions has yet again not allowed US forces to use Turkish soil to launch air strikes. Along with Germany refusing to also partake in combat missions within Iraq, most of Europe has been opposed to partaking in these strikes, excluding the UK who is yet to decide. In addition qualms of Arabic states have also plagued Obama's plan, the lack of commitment that fighting fellow Sunni muslims posses will make bi lateral commitment only more difficult for NATO in the region. Funding for a moderate opposition has essentially been the only commitment some Arab states have offered to the coalition (Abi-Habib, Solomon). These facts may be difficult for President Obama to comprehend, as the US people see ISIS as a very serious threat, yet they are not willing to use overwhelming force to defeat them, while our Middle Eastern and European allies feel the same way.



Work Cited

Caldwell, Leigh Ann. "Why it took Obama so long to address his no ISIS strategy comments." CNN.com. 

     Last modified September 3, 2014. Accessed September 12, 2014. http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/03/ 

     politics/obama-isis-response/index.html.

Dugan, Andrew. "On 10th Anniversary, 53% in U.S. See Iraq War as Mistake." Gallup, March 18, 2013. 

Preston, Mark. "CNN poll finds majority of Americans alarmed by ISIS." CNN.com. Last modified 

     September 8, 2014. Accessed September 12, 2014. http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/03/politics/ 

     obama-isis-response/index.html.

Abi-Habib, Maria, and Jay Solomon. "Allies Pledge to Help U.S. Fight Islamic State." The Wall Street 

     Journal. Last modified September 11, 2014. Accessed September 12, 2014. http://online.wsj.com/ 

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