Issues Under Fire: ISIS Take Mosul and Tikirt, While US GOP Grapple w/Bergdahl Deal
Observing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel grapple with Congress over the Taliban/Bergdahl prisoner swap seemed almost absurd as savage ISIS militants started taking control of huge swarths of Iraq. While fresh, young, eager fighters enter the "global islamic jihad" by the day, the thought of bitching over releasing five aging Taliban militants for one American screwball gives one the impression, the United States may have lost sight of the big picture.
Reportedly, 500 thousand inhabitants fled the well organized military operation ISIS initiated in Mosul. After taking control of Ramadi and Falluja without a hint of resistance, the ISIS launched its most ambitious effort to date.
With American trained Iraqi troops leading the retreat, leaving weapons, armored vehicles, huge cashes of munitions and women and children to fend for themselves, one has to wonder if issues like Taliban/Bergdahl trade is just water-cooler chit chat compared to the real debates that should be in play now.
Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the international franchises they've inspired have proven their bench strength is as deep as their convictions. While Congress grandstands in hearings to score political points, the entire Middle East is being overrun by extremist determined to reconfigure borders along strict intolerant sectarian lines.
After years of training and billions spent equipping the Iraqi military, at the first sign of trouble, they and their country are folding like a house of cards. For those that'll argue the Unites States left Iraq too soon, others would ask how much more could have been done that would have made a difference. Five more years, another half $trillion, maybe 500-600 more U.S. lives might have done the trick, but even then, no one could ever be sure.
Bottom line: If the current state of affairs in Iraq and Afghanistan don't give the administration pause for considering more radical, unconventional and creative approaches to the Syrian civil war, the United States and its Western allies will have zero chance to contain the spread of this violent islamist militancy.
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