11. September 2014 Obama’s
speech and ISIS
President Obama’s speech outlining his strategy was short
on details and sounded more like a mini-State of the Union speech. Mr. Obama
sited Yemen and Somalia as success stories. This claim was vigorously refuted
by Richard Engel, Chief foreign correspondent of NBC, who reported that both
countries suffered significant defeats degrading their power and stated that Obama’s ISIS Speech as ‘Wildly
Off-Base’ and ‘an Oversimplification of the Problem’. US opinion polls generally favor action driven by the horrific beheadings
of two American reporters. Public support of the bombing campaign could soon
evaporate if there are casualties. ISIS, who seem adept at using social media,
are sure to display graphic images of civilian casualties to gain support and
inflame passions against the infidel sky invaders. To be effective, airstrikes
need to be followed by ground troops to recapture lost territory and therein
lies the core problem. Arming and training the Iraqi army proved to be a
disaster. ISIS roundly defeated the army and captured huge arsenals of US
weapons.
Furthermore, there are no ‘moderate’ forces in the region with the
possible exception of the Kurds who have no desire to move far away from their
own territory. Obama would do well to try and bring about an accord between
Sunni Saudis and the Shia Iranians; this could serve as an effective force to
neutralize the radical ISIS and simmer tensions in the region. Unfortunately,
coalition ‘infidels’ are reluctant to support us lest they inflame Islamic
militants within their own countries.
No comments:
Post a Comment