Syria: Do it smart or not at all
Boots on the ground. Sounds easy, right?
Well, experience in Iraq and Afghanistan has proven the opposite. The conflicts in Syria and Iraq are proxy conflicts for the powers in the region. Turkey basically helps ISIS and goes after the Kurds. The Saudis support the radicals and fosters more radicals with their Wahhabi faith.
Going after ISIS mindlessly would be foolish if we did not have an end game. If we wanted to do this right, we must settle the civil war in Syria. That would mean supporting the most powerful entity that could establish order. In reality, that would mean siding with the Russians and the Iranians and reestablish Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Of course, he would step down after a few years (like has been offered). Then we would establish Kurdistan as its own country, split the bottom of Iraq into two countries between Shia and Sunnis and be prepared to monitor them for 20 years.
The air war has killed over 10,000 ISIS troops but killing their poisonous ideas will take great effort and sacrifice.
Our president knows all this. He refuses to make the mistakes that got us to this point. Do it smart or not at all.
Mike Enos, Fresno
This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 8:45 AM with the headline "Syria: Do it smart or not at all."