Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Obama expands the war against ISIS, may strike Syria. -Yahoo/AP

Obama's speech on ISIS. New York Times.

President Obama gave a speech tonight outlining his plan to take on ISIS. Yahoo/AP. Obama announced that he is sending 500 more troops to Iraq and will arm and train rebels fighting in Syria against both ISIS and the Syrian government. Obama said the goal is to degrade and eventually destroy ISIS. Obama also made clear that now that Iraq has formed a new government the pace of airstrikes will increase and may include strikes in Syria. Obama will proceed with these strikes without congressional authorization. Obama also called on U.S. allies to help with the effort. Saudi Arabia has volunteered to train rebels, Germany has volunteered to arm the Kurdish fighters in the North, and France will participate in airstrikes. Obama has ruled out any ground combat role for U.S. troops.

My Comment:
The above video has the whole speech. I've got some mixed feelings on this one. I am obviously happy that ISIS is going to face the full power of the United States Air Force and Navy. If anyone ever deserved a hellfire missile to the face, it is ISIS. And getting other countries to help, including France who has traditionally been opposed to fighting in Iraq, is an accomplishment. On the other hand I strongly disagree with arming the Syrian rebels. We shouldn't be taking sides in the Syrian civil war and by arming the rebels we are doing exactly that. Sure, sometimes the rebels fight ISIS but they also fight the regime. I'd rather work with Syria then against them. And I also think Obama should consult congress for any strikes in Syria. He would probably get authorization so there is no reason not to do so. 

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