Photo Credit: Pete Souza/The White House
The Slippery Slope Begins -- New York Times editorial
Is U.S. Policy on Fighting ISIS Already Changing?
A week ago, President Obama stood before the American people and promised that the expanding fight against the Islamic State — a vicious Sunni militant group known as ISIS or ISIL that is terrorizing parts of Iraq and Syria — would not mean a commitment of American ground troops. “As I have said before, these American forces will not have a combat mission,” he said.
On Tuesday, Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had a very different message when he testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee. “If we reach the point where I believe our advisers should accompany Iraqi troops on attacks against specific ISIL targets, I’ll recommend that to the president,” he said, citing a potential attempt to retake the strategic important Iraqi city of Mosul as an example.
There is no way to read this other than as a reversal from the firm commitment Mr. Obama made not to immerse the country in another endless ground war in the Middle East.
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My Comment: The New York Times is now admitting .... albeit reluctantly .... that we are heading towards a return to war in Iraq. Are they now going to admit that their support for President Obama's policy to leave Iraq in 2011 without a residual force was incorrect .... probably not.
2 comments:
Wasn't a large part of that decision the fact that Iraq would not sign a Status of Forces agreement with the US? How is that a US mistake? Should we have remained there nonetheless?
The debate on not agreeing to a Status of Forces Agreement has been ongoing since the day that U.S. forces left. There are many in the U.S. and Iraq who have said since then that an agreement was possible .... but the priority nevertheless was .... from the White House .... to get out. The fact that an overwhelming majority of the American public wanted out probably helped the White House to make that decision .... and Congress with an eye on the polls stayed quiet.
As to what was my position then .... I was happy to get out .... and today .... I am sad to see the U.S. going back into Iraq to get involved in what is essentially a religious/sectarian war.
Protect the Kurds and Christian communities from genocide in the north .... I can understand why we are doing that .... but to protect the Baghdad government .... not so much.
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