A HEALTH CRISIS OR A FOREIGN WAR, AMERICA ALWAYS GETS THE 1st CALL

…A US Apache Gunship

Once again, regardless of the root cause, the United State must come to the rescue.

 

Whether it’s an Ebola crisis or an army of terrorists, when the going gets tough, every other country always calls on the United States.  Oh, and it’s not just for our billions for funding the event, it’s all that, plus our ground troops, weapons, bombs, amo, HumVee’s and, oh yes, our US Special Forces, Air Force, Navy and Marines.

I know, I know, yes, we are the largest super power. 

But there are other industrialized countries that could do a lot more than they do today in helping us out.  In addition, they are also well financed where they could assume more of the overall costs instead of throwing it mostly on the shoulders of the American taxpayer.

One other disturbing part is that when that, “push comes to shove”, our head US military personnel usually wants us to always “go all the way”.  But this is exactly why our country was established with a civilian president as the “Commander-in-Chief”. 

 

During the early 1960’s “Cuban Missile Crisis”, the US military leaders all wanted to bomb the Cuban missile sites.  But the Soviet Leader at the time said that if we did that, they would drop an atomic device on Berlin.  This would obviously have started WW III.

The US President Kennedy instead worked out a deal where we would remove some threatening missiles in Europe, if the Soviets took out the Cuban missiles.  That’s what eventually occurred.

One World War avoided, where the US military had wanted to “bomb them to hell”.

Today, the US military is at it again.  Even though 69% of Americans polled do not want US Troops “boots-on-the-ground” in Iraq and Syria, US military commanders and diplomats are signaling that the United States must expand its military operations before the ISIL extremists control even more territory.   “Too few and too slow,” is the way one military official characterizes efforts so far. Supporters of an expanded American role also appear to include Secretary of State John Kerry and General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

President Obama faces difficult new options to bolster allies in both Syria and Iraq.  As he weighs the recommendations for tougher action, Obama must worry that, because of the deteriorating situation, he is being pushed down the very path of the escalation that he and most Americans, had hoped to avoid. 

I would not be surprised if the president does put some of our US troops in “harm’s way”, but I doubt that it will initially be the classic “boots-on-the-ground”.  Instead, at first, I think the Marine and Navy helicopters will get the call.  Here is where I think the president will probably head:

·       The president will send more Apache gunships to Iraq to counter the extremists’ offensive. Some of these deadly attack helicopters are already at Baghdad’s airport, and more could be sent to al-Asad Air Base, which remains under government control. From these two bases, a squadron of 20 or so Apaches could attack the Islamic State’s personnel holed up in the Baghdad suburbs. General Dempsey even pointed to the Apaches in a TV interview as an “immediately available” tool to defend the Baghdad airport.

·       They will probably step up airstrikes over both Iraq and Syria. However, some officials argue that, to stop the extremists’ advance, 150 to 200 sorties a day may be needed.  This is a sharp increase from 10 a day now. Hopefully, Great Britain and other countries’ air ships will also join in, but who knows?  Even though air power has limited effect against insurgency, even the Pentagon and State Department officials say it may be the only way to prevent even further losses.

·       The allies will most likely create a border strip in northern Syria that’s safe from air attacks by Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. Obama has long resisted this no-fly zone approach, but many U.S. officials now argue it’s essential, not the least, just to calm down Turkey.

·       The military will accelerate the training of the Iraqi army and a new Sunni national guard. Hundreds of foreign trainers have been drawn from the special forces of the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Australia and other nations.  They will be working with what’s left of the Iraqi military.  U.S. officials believe a quick start for this program will boost morale among Iraq’s Sunni tribal leaders who say they’re ready to fight the extremists, but that today they lack the tools.

·       The president will probably warn the Assad government that the US-led coalition will not permit attacks on the moderate Syrian opposition. Given the reluctance of the United States, Turkey, and other nations to send ground troops into Syria, and due to the overall hatred of Assad’s army, Assad must stop assaulting these forces that could hopefully liberate Sunni areas from the Islamic State.

·       It will be interesting to see how President Assad responds to President Obama’s eventual decisions.

 

…The ISIL taking over a town in Northern Iraq

Unfortunately, the president will most likely authorize US military advisers on the ground to join the “assault echelon” when Iraqis eventually go into battle against the extremists. This will be the hardest recommendation for President Obama to make as it does not support his pledge to not use US combat troops in Iraq.

One official now says putting US advisers “in harm’s way” will be crucial in stiffening the Iraqi troops. General Dempsey said last week that the “decisive” battles for Mosul and other extremist strongholds in Iraq “will require a different kind of advising and assisting” from what President Obama had initially advocated.  In other words, the “advise” will most likely come in the form of US ground troops.

President Obama now faces a “fundamental decision” of how to carry out his pledge to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the Islamic State.

It’s a terrible dilemma for the president, but in this particular case, an inescapable one.

Copyright G.Ater  2014