This Is Why No Boots on the Ground Is Problematic in Iraq
Barack Obama’s No-Boots-On-The-Ground strategy isn’t exactly placing America on the moral high ground in the fight against ISIL. For months, the U.S. has run its bombing missions and sent Special Forces to the deserts of Iraq to train Iraqi fighters in order to beat back the hordes of ISIL. The plan is beginning to backfire, as some Iraqi brigades who have beaten back the jihadis have turned around and committed the very same atrocities. As ABC News reports, the U.S. has already pulled support from some of its proxy fighters as it’s become apparent they committed atrocities – sometimes with U.S. equipment. According to ABC, “The investigation, being conducted by the Iraqi government, was launched after officials were confronted with numerous allegations of ‘war crimes,’ based in part on dozens of ghastly videos and still photos that appear to show uniformed soldiers from some of Iraq’s most elite units and militia members massacring civilians, torturing and executing prisoners, and displaying severed heads.” In a sense, the extrajudicial tortures and killings make sense – it’s revenge, pure and simple, for ISIL’s burnings, beheadings and massacres. But it still doesn’t justify it. Recently, Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. has the capability to destroy ISIL, but it’s going to sit back and defeat the problem slowly. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil… More…
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- John Kerry
- Islamic State
- Iraq