Small Wars Journal, which is neither leftist nor pacifist, explains how Obama is blundering into a quagmire fighting ISIS, just as LBJ did in Vietnam, saying “If You Liked Vietnam, You’ll Love the War With the Islamic State.”
President Obama is repeating three key strategic mistakes that President Johnson made in Vietnam. First, he has embarked on an open ended commitment; there was no measurable end state.
If the president’s aim is to destroy the military forces of the Islamic State, he is making the second mistake by thinking it can be done by airpower alone.
President Obama has emulated Johnson and will create sanctuaries by taking the ground option off the table. He hopes that we can use the Iraqi Army, Kurds, or moderate Syrian rebels to eject the Islamic State forces from occupied territory. That is sheer fantasy.
A comment makes the strong point that Saudi Arabia is not our friend and never has been. I agree. Also, why is ISIS our fight? Let Middle East countries deal with their own mess.
I think it fair to suggest that the lunatics are now running the asylum and have been for a while. IMO we should be telling the House of Saud as far as we are concerned it is their responsibility to close the circus down.
The KSA is probably the only modernized wealthy country wherein a tyrannical form of Law Enforcement is widely accepted by the local populace as not only legitimate but enlightened. They chop dozens of people’s heads off every month for ‘crimes’ we consider a normal feature on a Saturday night out and it doesn’t even make the local newspaper.
So what I’m advocating is not war-war with the KSA but very loud jaw-jaw. KSA citizens are responsible for so much blood spilt and treasure spent (much of it American) and our leadership has to start yelling that fact into their faces. It is way past the time for quiet diplomacy and we should refuse to have anything to do with them and denounce their homegrown terrorists loudly and publicly until they get rid of them.