Most of those running for president say more must be done to defeat ISIS. And more usually equals more military might. In the United States, military service is a choice, not a requirement. While all men must register with the Selective Service System at age 18, there has not been a military draft in 42 years. But that has not stopped some from suggesting its return, for reasons ranging from raising the competency level of the military to improving the country’s social fabric. Many argue that compulsory service would make politicians think twice about going to war. Does the U.S. has the military it needs? And what are the needs of the military it has?
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The Army We Have. The Army We Need.
Posted December 22nd, 2015 at 3:12 pm (UTC-5)
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Lindsey Graham’s Exit & What to do About ISIS
Posted December 21st, 2015 at 4:43 pm (UTC-5)
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Lindsey Graham was the only presidential candidate who advocated for sending tens of thousands of United States ground troops to Syria and Iraq to defeat Islamic State. Graham, a republican senator from South Carolina, exited the 2016 presidential race today. While he disagrees with Graham’s proposal, President Obama praised him for being “honest about suggesting ‘here is something I would do that the president is not doing.’ In an interview with National Public Radio, Obama said calls for carpet-bombing “would have an enormous backlash against the United States” if tens or hundreds of thousands of innocent Syrians and Iraqis are killed in the process. He also said deployment of tens of thousands of troops would result in an indefinite period of governing. So what will work? And what will not?
Three Steps Toward Defeating ISIS That Are Better Than Those Heard At Tuesday’s Debate
Posted December 17th, 2015 at 12:32 pm (UTC-5)
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I can only imagine how much the Daesh terrorists enjoyed watching 2 hours of prime video footage they will likely use in their next recruitment video. … Such rhetoric sadly plays right into the ultimate strategy of Daesh — to convince naive and disturbed individuals that they are just as strong as the United States […]
Samantha Power: Putting ISIS Out of Business
Posted December 17th, 2015 at 12:19 pm (UTC-5)
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ISIL ruthlessly extracts financial resources from the territory where it operates. … To prevent ISIL from enriching itself, we need every country and its citizens to stop buying what ISIL is selling. This requires unprecedented collective action that the United Nations is uniquely positioned to mobilize.
Conservatives Should Be Opposing, Not Endorsing Calls for Massive Collection of DNA
Posted December 16th, 2015 at 5:02 pm (UTC-5)
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I’ve been wondering when the make-us-feel-safe-at-any-cost crowd would dust off the privacy-invasive and Fourth Amendment-violating concept of collecting DNA samples from anyone arrested for an offense; and, propose it as a way to “make law enforcement’s job easier in these dangerous times.” My wait is over. The clamor for more DNA testing has started again.
The West’s Best Ally Against ISIS
Posted December 16th, 2015 at 4:39 pm (UTC-5)
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The pesh merga fighters I command are not conscripts; they would rather die than surrender to the tyranny of the Islamic State. We are determined to liberate Kurdistan … We have yet more volunteers ready to join the fight against the Islamic State — if only we had the resources to train and equip them.
5 Questions on the Islamic State for GOP Presidential Candidates
Posted December 15th, 2015 at 3:56 pm (UTC-5)
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[L]et’s imagine an ideal debate where candidates didn’t really know the questions in advance and were required to elaborate on their tough talk. Here are five counterterrorism questions pertaining to the Islamic State that might be asked.
The Patience of Jihad
Posted December 15th, 2015 at 11:51 am (UTC-5)
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President Obama has argued there isn’t a threat of terrorism from the U.S. refugee program because for individuals who apply it takes two years, “heavy vetting” and is a relatively long process. It doesn’t matter. Jihad is patient, and as ISIS has pledged, it will do whatever it takes to get the job done.
Presidential Candidates Proposing to Ban Muslim Immigration to the United States
Posted December 11th, 2015 at 8:26 am (UTC-5)
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I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world. True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so called Islamic Jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion.
How Terrorists Convince Themselves to Kill
Posted December 10th, 2015 at 6:03 pm (UTC-5)
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The less we empathize with someone, the easier it is to kill them. Jihadist culture is exceptionally good at decreasing empathy for outsiders, Muslim and non-Muslim alike…
Ted Cruz’s Syria ‘Dog’
Posted December 10th, 2015 at 5:58 pm (UTC-5)
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Ted Cruz’s bid for the GOP’s presidential nomination has always rested on the proposition that he is the only “real Republican” in the race. So why is the junior Senator from Texas advocating a Syria policy that seems to have been drawn from President Obama’s situation room?
Syria: The Need for Diplomacy and De-escalation
Posted December 10th, 2015 at 10:42 am (UTC-5)
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The current policy—gradually escalating the war in the hope of forcing a comprehensive political transition—is unlikely to succeed. … Assad is backed not only by sizeable military forces and a considerable portion of his population but also—and perhaps most importantly—by major outside powers determined to prevent the collapse of his regime.
How Saddam Hussein Gave Us ISIS
Whom should we blame for the Islamic State? In the debate about its origins, many have concluded that it arose from the American-led coalition’s errors after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In fact, the groundwork for the emergence of the militant jihadist group was laid many years earlier by the government of Saddam Hussein.