ISIL Cannot Be Defeated From Afar
Congress, with its enumerated power to declare war, is the branch of government that should define when this nation fights, not the president (the exception being an imminent threat). While Obama draws a red line at sending U.S. troops back to Iraq, Congress is not so certain America should limit itself. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) says, “I don’t think we should ever sit back and tell our enemies what we will and will not do. If we need Special Forces there, if that’s what the generals say, then we need to do it.” In some ways, the fight against ISIL is too complicated to wage from afar. Sure, America can lob bombs and traffic arms to groups fighting ISIL, but, in the case of arms trafficking, the weapons can wind up in the very hands that America is trying to defeat. C.J. Chivers at The New York Times reports 19% of the ammunition ISIL uses comes from the United States. How’s that for strategy?