Subscribe
E-Paper
Critics looking for more reasons to pound President Barack Obama probably found ample fodder in his speech last week outlining a strategy to confront the Islamic State threat in Syria and Iraq. Americans are losing patience with a reluctant warrior in the White House at a time when even he says the danger is clear and present.
All commanders in chief face a constant balancing act between prudence and bold demonstrations of American military might. Obama stated what all of us see: Islamic State terrorists are coercing others to join the militants' ranks or die. They must be stopped.
Obama pledges to follow these terrorists to the ends of the Earth ― but signals that they needn't fear confrontation with U.S. ground forces. Direct U.S. military involvement is limited to airstrikes.
We know from the past decade of war that overextension and miscalculation can lead to disastrous consequences. So, yes, presidential caution is justified when committing this nation to yet another Middle Eastern entanglement.
Conversely, we see from the Islamic State's sweep across Iraq and Syria that too much caution also has consequences. We long ago took issue with Obama's failure to help when moderate rebel forces still were competing against Islamic State radicals for battlefield dominance in Syria. Only now, as the radicals sweep across Iraq, is Obama getting serious about providing training and equipment to the depleted ranks of moderates still fighting.
We hope that Obama's speech marks a turning point. He now must match words with actions to eradicate the Islamic State "cancer."
Retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, former head of the U.S. Central Command, warned years before the 2003 Iraq invasion that presidents must outline a clear strategy and be prepared for unforeseen consequences. We asked him this week to assess Obama's approach.
Zinni, a harsh critic of the Bush administration's planning for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, shows no signs of going easy on Obama either. The president should never have broadcast to the enemy that U.S. ground troops aren't coming, he says.
Obama's plan also fails to identify who's leading on the ground, Zinni warns. Will we leave combat leadership to ragtag Syrian rebels and an Iraqi military command that runs at the first sign of danger?
Too many times, American leaders have promised victory but left unvanquished enemies to fight another day.
If Obama can accomplish this mission with a limited U.S. commitment, he deserves the full support of Congress and the public. But many Americans feel they've been fooled once, twice and thrice before. They're in no mood to be fooled again.
This article was published and distributed by MCT Information Services.
