Issues Under Fire: How to Confront ISIS Without Creating More Refugees

Issues Under Fire: How to Confront ISIS Without Creating More Refugees 

As the U.N. World Food Program runs out of money to support 1.7 million Syrian refugees this week, the United States moves ahead with its $500 million mission to train and arm the Syrian opposition. Determined to dislodge Bashar al-Assad from his comfort zone at any cost, the Obama administration and Western allies may create more hardship for those fleeing foreign fighters than the foreign fighters everybody wants to fight. 

Currently, Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt are playing host to these hardship cases, but they can't be expected to shoulder the burden and expense of the long term needy forever. Considering the U.S. has indicated the fight against ISIS/ISIL will take years, at the current rate of growth, the Syrian refugee population should explode shortly. Add all the other regional hard cases who qualify for food, shelter and protection assistance and you got a humanitarian disaster in the making. 

The Syrian Refugee Crisis

While the United States claims to provide more than its fair share in humanitarian aid, when one considers the role the United States has played in the region, one could say the United States is at the root cause of the humanitarian crisis. If the United States never invaded Iraq, there would have been no ISIS/ISIL to fight. Since ISIS/ISIL is a direct consequence of failed U.S. foreign policy and military strategies, the United States should be held accountable for the havoc and hell of those escaping the violence are experiencing. 

Surly those charged with advising President Obama on how to confront ISIS/ISIL is aware that its present course of action carries inherent  human cost that can't be measured in dollars. When a child spends three four five years of its life as a refugee, missing meals, school and any sense of normalcy, that child will be damaged for life. Those lost years can never be recovered.

If one considers how refugee camp conditions can open the door to sexual assaults, strong-arm activities and turf wars, one can see how badly life as a refugee can suck, even on a good day. No Syrian mother should be forced to decide which of her teen sons to allow to enter the fight and which of her daughters she'll marry off for food to feed the younger ones, but in reality scenes like these are routine.

Bottom line: Why there seems to be unlimited funding for bombs and bullets, yet funding for bread and bandages runs in the red like blood in the streets is a mystery. Until the United States can find a way to confront ISIS/ISIL without destroying more lives than the enemy, it may have to consider opening its border to more Syrian refugees for permanent relocation. At least, it would ease the pressure on regional allies who played no role in the madness. Podcast Below!