Whether you support the involvement of the U.S. Government
in the Syria crisis or not, it is clear that something needs to be done. Just
today it was announced, that the U.S. would be deploying fifty members of U.S.
Special Operations Forces into Syria. These Operators will be deployed to the
northern region of Syria to train and in some cases, with the approval of
Washington, fight alongside Syrian rebel forces. The president also ordered A10
and F15 fighters to near by Turkey.
With these actions, it is discernable that the White House
was beginning to feel the pressure of the Syrian conflict. Sending the
operators and fighter planes has been the most significant effort by the U.S.
to date. The White House has stated that its strategy in Syria has not changed.
Is there a strategy? Does not having a strategy, classify as having a strategy?
Is this gesture by the U.S. too little, too late? I would argue that it is indeed
far too little and far too late. With
Russia’s behavior seemingly to be aiding Assad’s power rather than fighting
ISIS, and its suspicious bombing patterns in Syria, the U.S. needs to make a
bigger move. Fifty operators are just not enough to put a significant stop to
ISIS. The U.S. government needs to come up with a more encompassing plan, one
that includes more troops than just a mere fifty operators. ISIS is a global
threat, growing larger in numbers and destructive capabilities by the day.
In my opinion these actions, or lack of actions make our
President seem weak in the eyes of our enemy. It reinforces the idea that the
President has no intention of eliminating ISIS, and is simply riding the clock
out. Lacking an effective plan for
eradicating ISIS also demonstrates to our allies that the United States of
America is unreliable.