President Barack Obama’s speech Wednesday single-handedly contradicted his entire presidency. In a single speech he eroded his promise to vacate most of the Middle East by the end of his tenure. ISIS's reign of terror in the past few months has changed the course of the Obama presidency and has exposed the war-weary condition of the U.S.
The announced plan of action by President Obama is an unpredictable venture in which there is no foreseeable end. The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is the longest military occupation by the U.S. to date, and the threat of ISIS ensures that we will be in the region for another decade at a minimum. More alarming is the decision by the Commander in Chief to arm Syrian rebels — a dangerous parallel to arming Saddam Hussein and his troops against Iran in the 1980s. We all know how that ends.
The president is pushing a "no feet on the ground" approach and insists that drones will be the sole American tactic; however, it is simply a mid-term maneuver to keep support from hesitant Democrats and Americans in general. The electorate does not want to hear another excuse to send soldiers back to Iraq, and his speech asserted that supposedly this would not be the case. Following Obama’s speech, Americans should prepare themselves for a difficult road ahead. We will eventually have to put feet on the ground in order to make any gains in this conflict. Thus, loss of American life is an imminent threat.
After hundreds, nay, thousands, of years of conflict in the region, the U.S. is not going to make a difference. We are endangering the welfare of our nation’s long-term stability, and it forces us to continuously donate a large portion of our budget towards military spending. During the 2013 fiscal year, military spending accounted for 57 percent of our budget. A strong military is essential to protect democracy and American interests, but it shouldn't be at the cost of welfare programs and education in the states.
Americans understand the threat ISIS poses to the Middle East. With ISIS’s acts of terror, especially towards Christians and foreign journalists, some military action is understandably necessary.
“But this is not our fight alone,” Obama said in the speech. "American power can make a decisive difference, but we cannot do for Iraqis what they must do for themselves."
We aided in establishing the Iraqi government with the purpose of an autonomous democracy, yet at the first threat, we feel obliged to step in and moderate rather than allow their democracy to be tested. At the very least, another Middle Eastern state should have stepped in and helped the Iraqis work through this conflict, instead of the U.S. becoming further entwined in the region.
The U.S. is entering a hopeless conflict that will mimic the past 13 years. We all but eradicated Al-Qaeda with the death of Osama Bin Laden, but there will always be someone to fill that void. Furthermore, with Al-Qaeda’s influence deteriorating, ISIS is simply a more extreme jihadist group to fill the same void and the vicious cycle will not end there. With each attempt we make to implement our will on these groups, a more radical group will follow.
The American populace is tired. A generation of people is tired of incessant war and it is tired of excuses to further our involvement in the Middle East.
Reach the columnist at jemeyer3@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @JordanElizaM
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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