U.S. soldiers gather in the town of Gwer, northern Iraq August 31, 2016. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari /File Photo
Danny Sjursen, Huntington Post: The Misuse Of American Military Power In The Middle East
Fifteen-plus years after 9/11, engaged militarily in half a dozen countries across the Greater Middle East, with no end in sight.
The United States has already lost ― its war for the Middle East, that is. Having taken my own crack at combat soldiering in both Iraq and Afghanistan, that couldn’t be clearer to me. Unfortunately, it’s evidently still not clear in Washington. Bush’s neo-imperial triumphalism failed. Obama’s quiet shift to drones, Special Forces, and clandestine executive actions didn’t turn the tide either. For all President Trump’s bluster, boasting, and threats, rest assured that, at best, he’ll barely move the needle and, at worst… but why even go there?
At this point, it’s at least reasonable to look back and ask yet again: Why the failure? Explanations abound, of course. Perhaps Americans were simply never tough enough and still need to take off the kid gloves. Maybe there just weren’t ever enough troops. (Bring back the draft!) Maybe all those hundreds of thousands of bombs and missiles just came up short. (So how about lots more of them, maybe even a nuke?)
Lead from the front. Lead from behind. Surge yet again… The list goes on ― and on and on.
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WNU Editor: The Pentagon will be presenting their options to President Trump on Monday on what needs to be done to defeat the Islamic State. We will know then if it will be business as usual .... or a new strategy and approach on using U.S. military power in these conflicts.
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