President Obama seeks congressional authorization to take new direction against ISIL
By Sergey Fedossov | Feb. 25, 2015The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is a group of butchers. There is no question to the atrocities they are guilty of, from inhumane executions of prisoners, to organ trafficking and child prostitution, these disgusting religious extremists deserve nothing less than swift retribution. However, this white-knuckled rage against a stateless, seemingly faceless enemy, is a dangerous one that led us to the quagmire that was the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Looking at US military policy from the conflicts in the Middle East over the past decade, I believe there are things that could have been done differently, both on the battlefield and off of it. High civilian casualties, an absence of reliable government, and lack of dedicated humanitarian aid/infrastructure development after the siege of Baghdad led to a failure that even the most hard-nosed conservative would be pressed to support entirely. Despite this idea of temperance and looking toward history, my anger rose again when I wondered how many more headlines I would have to read of civilians executed by ISIL. Countries such as Jordan, with far fewer resources than the United States, have responded in kind to ISIL, showing they will not be cowed. My fears were put to rest a few weeks ago when it was announced President Obama was holding an address to the nation regarding action against ISIL.
