John Cassidy gets into the weeds and explains how the President and Congress are working (together, sort of) to get in there and “take out” ISIS.
In the coming weeks, Republicans and Democrats will be forced to approve, strike down, or modify the Administration’s request, which is what is supposed to happen. (The would-be Presidential candidates in 2016, by virtue of their ambitions, will also have to adopt a public stance.) Right now, Congress seems likely to end up approving some sort of resolution. Still, the debates will provide an opportunity for people to consider the stakes, and to think hard about the conflict. A ground war against ISIS is likely to be bloody and extended. And, even if it succeeds militarily, the United States and its allies will face the same task they goofed up the last time around: putting together a stable and democratic Iraq. ...Cassidy,NewYorker
Most of us are ambivalent — at best! — about the options. No, we don’t want another damn war. Yes, we want to annihilate ISIS.
…The same poll that showed that fifty-seven per cent of respondents were opposed to a ground war also found that fifty-seven per cent of respondents said that the United States should “do whatever is necessary” to defeat ISIS. (Thirty-nine per cent said that the United States should “stay out of the conflict.”) Seemingly, most Americans agree with Republican Senator Mark Kirk, of Illinois, who told the Times that, despite having some reservations, “I think it’s the right thing to do to take these guys out.” …Cassidy,NewYorker
How can we “take them out” when they already have a grasp on — and the admiration of — so many Muslim hearts and minds? What have our wars done over the past fifteen years to improve the lives of the young here and in the nations we “rescue”? Is short respite from extremists enough to justify the devastation our drones and invasions cause? Indeed, the motivation clearly isn’t earlier successes associated with our use of force. The motivation for our knee-jerk use of force is probably most clearly revealed (how could we see it in any other way) by the numbers showing the reach of the defense industry into the campaign funding. No?
Cross-posted from Prairie Weather
Graphic by Yo (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons