John Boehner is continuing the escalation. The drumbeat to war is on again. America should be tired of the false choices they are continuously asked to make.
No more false choices. Speak up to John Boehner & President Obama
To be clear, ISIS / ISIL is a barbaric, murderous, despicable group. That can be said for many groups throughout the world that get no attention because they are in parts of the world we do not care about.
Before America goes into war or creep into war, it must be determined if the price to go in is morally, financially, and humanely in our interest. General Zinni said ISIS / ISIL is not an existential threat to the US on the Bill Maher show on Friday. In fact he stated it is a regional threat. That said, he acknowledged Ebola as an existential threat to the world that merits much more attention. This opinion is shared by many others as stated in the Bill Maher piece.
President Obama should follow his two simple but important doctrines.
- Don’t do stupid stuff.
- Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail
Yesterday on 60 minutes President Obama said boldly that the United States always takes the lead. He said when there are problems in the world everyone calls on the US. He implied that countries that attempt to give the semblance of power are never there to lead. While all those statements are true, leading does not necessarily means putting your own country at risk unnecessarily.
There is much to say about allowing ISIS / ISIL to die from attrition and a lack of supply. Yet no one is talking about that.
To be specific, think about the following. Much of the arms ISIS / ISIL has are US Tanks and other armaments. They require ammunition from our manufacturers. How difficult would it be to track that supply line?
ISIS / ISIL’s weapons of consequence are not small guns that can be hidden. These are shipments that can be tracked. In our world where the NSA tracks everything, is it difficult to believe we could track arms from arm manufacturers? Why not invest in intelligence to covertly destroy these?
ISIS / ISIL has a couple of billion dollars and a few refineries under its control. Is it really difficult to penalize and seize both ill-gotten oil and financial transactions in the world’s unified economy? Why destroy the refineries? Interesting enough, that becomes a gift to the oil industry as the price of oil shoots up.
One wonders why these sensible actions that would minimize the deaths of civilians and American soldiers are not effected. One can assume that it is because there is much profit to be made from laundered oil, laundered arms, and an infrastructure built to rebuild, destroy, and rebuild.
I continue to believe the military industrial complex and many in the private business community are playing on Americans’ fears. The question is, when will we as a nation toughen up and confront those who continue to pilfer us as they lead us astray.