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?
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Lindsey Graham’s Exit & What to do About ISIS
ISIS the Peacemaker
A lot of priorities are being reordered in the Middle East and North Africa now, thanks to the new threats that have emerged over the past year. This could, unexpectedly, lead to some ongoing problems being resolved
Three Steps Toward Defeating ISIS That Are Better Than Those Heard At Tuesday’s Debate
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
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.
World View: Cruz-Rubio Debate Important
The Bush Doctrine of regime change (pursued by Obama reluctantly and often in the breach) has failed repeatedly. At this point, it may be impossible to remove Assad for the foreseeable future, something the Obama team is beginning to recognize.
The West’s Best Ally Against ISIS
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.
Ted Cruz’s Syria ‘Dog’
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
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.
Drone Strikes Are Creating Hatred Toward America That Will Last for Generations
If we want to curb terrorism in the United States, we must stop drone attacks in the Middle East. … ‘The resentment created by American use of unmanned strikes … is much greater than the average American appreciates,’ Gen. [Stanley] McChrystal, who led the US counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan, said in 2013.
Does the Islamic State Want an Apocalyptic Showdown? Not So Fast
As we contemplate a change of course in the fight against the Islamic State as a result of its recent escalation against the West, it is certainly worth thinking about what the Islamic State hopes to achieve. But our debate should be informed by accurate information about the group’s own internal deliberations …
Putin’s Syrian Misadventure
Putin’s “crafty” Syrian chess move has left him with a lot more dead Russians; newly at odds with Turkey and Iran; weakened in Ukraine; acting as the defense lawyer for Assad — a mass murderer of Sunni Muslims, the same Sunni Muslims as Putin has in Russia; and with no real advances against ISIS.
A Compassionate and Cautious Approach to Refugees
While we should offer hospitality for the sojourner, as Scripture enjoins us, our generosity must be leavened with realism and common sense. In today’s world that means there can be no open door to the world’s problems, including refugees fleeing Syria.
Terrorists and the Refugee Battleground
In the battle for hearts and minds, branding refugees as security threats – as politicians on both sides of the Atlantic are doing – only fuels intolerance and gives terrorists a potent recruitment tool to convince young Muslims that the West has no place for them.
Putin Takes Ineffectual Aim at Turkey
President Vladimir Putin is so angry with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey that he won’t talk to him on the phone or meet with him at the United Nations climate talks in Paris. But Putin can’t do much to hurt Erdogan or his country; he can only make life a little more difficult for Russians.
Meet the Man Showing the World What Airstrikes are Doing to Syria
For Jarrah and his ragtag team at ANA Press — an open source news platform operating in Turkey and Syria — documenting the mounting civilian death toll has become a new phase in their ongoing mission. Their latest challenge has been to show the human impact of Russian airstrikes …