Obama may have been the one to end two long term wars but he may also have opened up a new one.
The President has sent 50 Special Operations soldiers into the northern region of Syria. Obama’s administration is trying to deflect criticism of this escalation. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Friday:
“I certainly wouldn’t underestimate the capability and capacity of our U.S. special operations forces to be an important force multiplier anywhere around the world they are deployed and the President does expect that they can have an impact in intensifying our strategy for building the capacity of local forces inside of Syria to taking the fight on the ground to ISIL in their own country.”
President Obama has said several times since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War that there would not be boots on the ground but is now having to shift his position in the face of ISIL.
The Special Operations forces will be working with the moderate Syrian rebels in an undisclosed location but not in a direct combat role. Hopefully, this will provide the rebels with not only the training to fight effectively against ISIL but also alleged war criminal and President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad.
The new deployment is getting strong criticism from the right. Senator and presidential hopeful Lindsey Graham told Fox News Sunday:
“President Obama said he will degrade and destroy ISIL. Sending 50 American Special Forces into Syria in the eyes of ISIL shows that Obama is not all in, it is a sign of weakness to ISIL. They have sized Obama up and they think he’s weak. And to our allies, sending 50 troops means that we’re not committed to destroying ISIL. And if we’re not committed to destroying ISIL, they will attack us here.”
The situation with the Islamic State isn’t something with an easy solution. It’s not one that can just be ignored but it’s also not anything that will be fixed by another mass invasion of the region. Sending 50 of the United States’ best is a smart step.
They can train the local forces in new and effective tactics, provide discipline to the militia forces, and give the U.S. an on the ground look at the situation. Obama has also increased air strikes in Syria, deploying A-10 and F-15 squadrons to the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.
This increase in deployed forces comes after Russia’s own escalation, when they began their own bombing campaigns and sent in ground forces which the administration fears may be Russia’s attempt to bolster the strength of their ally, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
The situation is complicated, but one thing that is certain is that the Republicans advice of ramping up military forces in the region would be disastrous. It would destabilize an already unstable region, put more innocent lives in the crossfire, and potentially lead to a war with Russia.
