{"id":13657,"date":"2014-09-12T01:18:50","date_gmt":"2014-09-12T08:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=13657"},"modified":"2014-09-12T01:18:50","modified_gmt":"2014-09-12T08:18:50","slug":"isis-now-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2014\/09\/12\/isis-now-what\/","title":{"rendered":"ISIS: Now What?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The sound is deafening.  Knees are jerking all over the country.  Some are jerking, because Obama\u2019s plan to combat ISIS is doing too much.  The rest are jerking, because Obama\u2019s plan to combat ISIS is doing too little.  At such a time, what\u2019s a knee to do?  At least for now, my knee is going to wait.  Here\u2019s some analysis, the speech, a link to the transcript, and some commentary.<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"0912ObamaISIS\"<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI want the American people to understand how this effort will be different from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil.\u201d ~President Obama<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In a prime-time address to the nation (video below) President Obama laid out a plan to deal with the militant group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), which currently has large portions of Iraq as well as parts of Syria \u2013 an area about the size of Maryland<\/a> \u2013 under its control.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo tonight, with a new Iraqi government in place, and following consultations with allies abroad and Congress at home, I can announce that America will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat. Our objective is clear: we will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Obama made it clear that he would take this action, even inside Syria, and would be sending an additional 475 American service members to Iraq to support increased airstrikes. The President also called on congress to provide funding to train Syrian fighters, and continued humanitarian aid for those directly affected by ISIS.<\/p>\n

ISIS or ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and Levant) was formerly a major faction of Al-Qaeda in Iraq<\/a>, the same AQII we fought in Iraq post Saddam. However they were disavowed by Al-Qaeda central over actions in Syria, and the fact that they disobeyed orders to kill fewer civilians.<\/p>\n

The brutality of ISIS dwarfs Al-Qaeda\u2019s, with mass killings along the path as they take over more and more land, as well as the beheadings of kidnapped journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff. Their aim is to establish a caliphate (an ever expanding Islamic homeland under Sharia law) in Iraq and Syria. U.S. officials and experts believe they have immediate ambitions for Jordan, Lebanon, and Israel as well, an area referred to in the Arab world as the \u201cLevant\u201d, which is why the President refers to the terrorist group as ISIL and not ISIS. And regardless of quibbling over ISIS or ISIL, one point the President made deconstructed the notion that ISIS\/ISIL deserves to be called either \u201cIslamic\u201d or a \u201cState\u201d, pointing out that the terrorist group is not truly Islamic, as no religion including Islam would condone their actions, and more often than not their victims are other Muslims. Nor are they truly a \u201cState\u201d, States have internationally recognized sovereignty, terrorist groups don\u2019t, even if they do temporarily capture a lot of land.<\/p>\n

In the most controversial portion of his speech, President Obama claimed (with echoes of George W. Bush declaring himself \u201cthe Decider\u201d bouncing back from the distant walls of the canyons of modern history) that he has the authority to act alone, but then added that he welcomes the \u201csupport\u201d of Congress. Implied was that if he didn\u2019t get the support of Congress, he would proceed anyhow\u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <Liberals Unite<\/a>><\/p>\n

Obviously Republicans are screaming for all out war, and that is the worst possible approach.  It\u2019s exactly what ISIS wants.  On the left many are saying Obama is no different from Bush.  I take issue with them too.  For starters, Obama is not trying to lie us into combat the way Bush did.  He has not even claimed that ISIS is an immediate threat to the US.  Instead he claims that, unless they are stopped now, they could become a threat to the US, an accurate evaluation.  Also under Bush, participation by foreign troops was minimal, with the US and Brits carrying the brunt of the combat load.  Obama minimizes exposure to combat for US personnel.  Those are huge differences.<\/font><\/p>\n

Here is the speech in it\u2019s entirety.<\/font><\/p>\n