[September 24, 2014] The latest news out of the Middle East is that U.S. President Obama ordered airstrikes and missile attacks inside the country of Syria. Those attacks are on Islamic terror groups and have occurred mainly in the northern area not controlled by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Recall that Syria is in the middle of a civil war. Its government is a Shia-run dictatorship that is defending itself against a loosely aligned group of Sunni rebels. Among those opposed to Assad is the Sunni terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
While the U.S. President has been criticized pulling a “political stunt” before the November elections and acting only because he was “pressured” into the decision, those arguments fail to acknowledge that his actions speak loudly. Senior leaders must show that they are credible and believable. By doing something that hurts ISIS and other Islamic terror groups, the president should be commended for showing a key leader trait: decisiveness. By decisiveness, I do not mean just doing something to show action … but actually doing something that fits into a comprehensive strategy, has been properly vetted, and will show results.
Clearly, there are Diplomatic, Informational, and Economic resources that are also must being used in conjunction with Military power – little of this is reported. Without all four of these DIME measures used in proper balance, lasting success will not be achieved. Diplomatically, for example, the administration has five Arabic countries that are participating in the action; a small coalition by any standard. But, the significance of this is that all five are Sunni countries, none are Shia. So, what we have are established Sunni governments assisting the U.S. in going up against Sunni terrorist groups.
We can probably say with some accuracy that striking ISIS and other Islamic terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq will unlikely defeat them. The action is however the right one at this time. Much more is needed to include a more comprehensive strategy that is not nuanced whether U.S. military personnel have “boots on the ground” is necessary. That strategy should also nest within a grand strategy for fighting terrorism. If the United States has such a grand strategy, it is certainly confusing because no one is articulating it today.
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