How America is Losing the War on ISIS

A week since the Paris attacks, America has watched France use air strikes against Syria, our presidential candidates jockey for the best plan to take out ISIS and our president attack Republicans for wanting to put troops on the ground.

Only weeks ago, President Obama announced he would send a whole 50 Americans from special forces into Syria to combat the growing threat of ISIS. Obama’s move was denounced by Republicans as they warned of an imminent threat either at home or in Europe. Sadly, they were right.

After the attacks, Obama had a chance to change his course and was offered road maps  from various people on how to fight ISIS. Instead of admitting defeat, Obama doubled down on his foreign policy initiatives and insisted he was on the right path. But many people beg to differ.

The hardest part of fighting a religious terrorist organization such as ISIS is their unwavering commitment to the cause. In other words, it’s hard to fight an enemy who isn’t afraid to die. ISIS is not some born overnight group; they are methodical and recruit over various mediums, one of them being social media.

In order to take on ISIS we have to bring the fight to them, and send in ground troops. This group will not be eradicated by air strikes alone. By sending ground troops over to Syria and Iraq, we have a chance to take back lost territory and establish a presence in the region, but that is not enough. This caliphate must be dug up from its roots which means removing Assad from power. As long as Assad is in power, ISIS will be able to recruit and therefore continue waging war and claiming innocent lives in the name of jihad.

Unfortunately, our current administration is no longer acting in the best interest of its citizens, but merely counting down the days until they are out of office. It’s the best example of a lame duck presidency come early and Americans are the ones who are going to bear the brunt of Obama’s hardline stance on using a tattered foreign policy playbook.