Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Yesterday Would Have Been Better, But Now’s Fine
The most basic duties of a nation state are to protect its citizens from foreign violence and — when failing at that — to ensure that those who commit violence against it are seen to have made a grievous mistake.
For fourteen months, the Islamic State been allowed to get away with humiliating a military we spent over a decade — and countless billions — training. It has, moreover, done so despite our government’s explicit promise to defeat it, while encouraging and orchestrating domestic violence in the West. As noted in this morning’s Morning Jolt, it’s been a lot more success than failure of late, and there are dead Americans on three continents to prove it.
That we have retaliated and made — with our allies in the region — some gains against them is immaterial. This should not be surprising, as even brutal air campaigns can only accomplish so much, let alone one operated under the truly laughable rules of engagement to which our airmen and sailors have been subjected. The sad fact is that Mr. Baghdadi and his cultists have, so far, gotten away with it.
It is long past time that the American people decide what the hell we’re doing about ISIS, and the first step toward that is an open, on-the-record vote by the people’s representatives in Congress.
If a representative thinks that the present air campaign is up to the task, he should go on the record as saying so.
If he thinks we should actually destroy ISIS and has any faith in President Obama to implement that policy, then he needs to both explicitly and formally endorse the policy through a vote, both to hold the president accountable as well as himself.
If, however, that congressman decides, after sober and diligent thought, that the United States should be engaged against ISIS, but that the President can in no way be entrusted with that responsibility — a possibility, I confess, that I cannot easily dismiss — then he has a very grave decision to make: either to keep his mouth shut, accept the precedent this sets, and hope that nothing too awful happens in the next 14 months, or to risk the danger of a public no-confidence vote on a President over such a fundamental issue with so much time left in his term.
But it’s time to decide.
Published in Foreign Policy, Military
< devil’s advocate mode = on >
I’m not aware of any attacks against the United States by ISIS. (Threats, sure, but no attacks.)
It is an entirely optional prerogative of a nation state to protect (or avenge) the citizens of other nation states from violence by third parties.
That’s not to say it’s never a good idea, but it’s not a basic duty.
< devil’s advocate mode = off >
But then he’s clearly not a liberal …
But now he’s clearly not a conservative …
I don’t know that any such congressmen exist! But otherwise I agree.
That may be true, but I think a lot of us feel we have a certain sectarian duty to defend (or at the very least airlift out) Christian communities being victimized by ISIS.
That’s not the only factor, though. ISIS is making a complete mockery of two centuries of Anglo-Saxon anti-slavery policy. We can’t just let that pass. They are glorifying human sex trafficking.
More than a million of our ancestors died destroying this institution across the English-speaking world. ISIS must pay for making a mockery of that, and it must be seen to pay, an example of what happens to countries that violate the slavery–especially the sex slavery–taboo.
My personal opinion (this is just me) is that we should turn the Islamic State into a sea of radioactive glass. I’m just sayin’ . . .
By the way, your dad was great on the podcast!
14 months seems optimally bad. Too little time to build a case, and acquire the votes for, impeachment. But plenty of time for Obama to do more damage, and he seems determined to do it.
Is there a constitutional way Congress can mitigate the damage of 14 months of Obama, short of impeachment?
I.S. killed Americans in Beirut, Jordan, Mali and Paris, just in the past two weeks.