Commentary; US Strategy Toward the Islamic State -- An (Urgent) Opportunity For Congress To Do Its Job

FORT LEE, N.J., Sept. 28, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is written by Patrick R. Romain, editor in chief of The Weekly Leaf:

The execution of U.S. foreign policy that has relied on the use of force and support provided to selected factions, whether in the volatile Middle East or in other hot spots, has been an abject failure.  An astronomical cost has been paid with American and foreign lives and currency. The war against the Islamic State will be no different.

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Since the beginning of August, the U.S. and allies have conducted over 200 air strikes in Iraq against the Islamic State (ISIL) in support of Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmerga on the ground.

In recent days, the campaign has expanded to Syria, and along with "air partners" have conducted at least 43 strikes to restrict ISIL's territorial expansion, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said at a press briefing Friday.

The US military also carried out additional attacks in Syria against an Al Qaeda-linked group known as Khorasan, which were allegedly plotting attacks against the U.S. and its allies, Hagel said.

The National Priorities Project, a non-partisan group recently nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for their research on U.S. military spending, recently estimated that $1.57 trillion has been allocated to fund the wars in Iraq since 2003 and Afghanistan since 2001. Around $92.3 billion of that was spent this year alone.

For their efforts over more than a decade, the U.S. has suffered at least 6,836 military casualties from operations in Iraq and in Afghanistan, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. More than 52,000 military personnel have also been wounded in action.

History is repeating itself, and far from its intended outcome, the pursuit of an interventionist strategy to counter ISIL is premature, and likely to escalate the conflict in Iraq. It will also increase the civilian death toll, and draw new recruits to the militants' side intent on harming American citizens. Some estimates have put the rogue terror organization's numbers at up to 30,000, and a growing number of those a foreign fighters recruited from Western nations.

Allies in congress and abroad

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama addressed the United Nations General Assembly, during its annual conference in New York City. In his speech, Obama called on member states to address the danger posed by religiously motivated fanatics. "The terrorist group known as ISIL must be degraded, and ultimately destroyed", he once again reiterated.

"This group has terrorized all who they come across in Iraq and Syria," Obama went on. "Mothers, sisters, daughters have been subjected to rape as a weapon of war.  Innocent children have been gunned down.  Bodies have been dumped in mass graves.  Religious minorities have been starved to death.  In the most horrific crimes imaginable, innocent human beings have been beheaded, with videos of the atrocity distributed to shock the conscience of the world."

His speech was passionate and driven, yet is unlikely to sway those states already opposed to an escalation of U.S. military intervention, especially countries such as Iran, China, and Russia.

In a rare show of bipartisanship, members in both the House of Representatives and the Senate voted in support of Obama's plan to arm and train up to 5,000 "moderate" Syrian rebels. The bill, signed by Obama last Friday, will provide $500 million for training.

Much to Obama's relief, a coalition of allies have once again banded together, including key Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

Across the pond, Britain's parliament voted to join the U.S. and France in carrying out airstrikes against ISIL targets in Iraq on Friday. Australia, the Netherlands and Belgium also joined the campaign last week.

A track record of failure

But allies or none, the U.S. history in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt and Libya do not bode well for the current conflict.

In the past, both Republican and Democratic administrations have proceeded with the flawed premise that American military intervention, whether with boots on the ground, manned air-strikes, drones, or a combination of all, can effectively counter the threat of terrorism or eliminate and suppress growing sectarian and political conflicts that threaten US national security and economic interests.

Libya is descending into chaos, and is on the verge of another multi-sided civil war. The threat of the Taliban, and political uncertainty in Afghanistan remain high. Egypt's Arab Spring has come full circle, with the country once more returning under a dictatorial regime that has brutally silenced political opposition.

The images of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi meeting with Obama last week, and subsequent appearance at the United Nations, are stark reminders of the repugnant nature of international politics.

And of course Iraq, the ultimate poster child of US failed foreign policy, is on the verge of collapse and dismemberment, under the weight of increasing sectarian rift, whose roots and complexity long predates the memory and even birth of US politicians.

The need for transparency and media scrutiny

"The greatest test of a press system is how it empowers citizens to monitor the government's war-making powers. War is the most serious use of state power, organized sanctioned violence; how well it is under citizen review and control is not only a litmus test for the media but for society as a whole" - Robert W. McChessney, "The Political Economy of Media"

The president's decision to wage war against ISIL has triggered a dizzying debate among academics, pundits, political analysts and talking heads.

Some of these debates, critical for any thriving democracy, are driven by genuine concern for the stability and security of the U.S. and the lives of American soldiers and innocent civilians, while others are underpinned by more self-serving political and intellectual motivations.

Unfortunately, the resulting cacophony makes it increasingly difficult for the American public to get the facts straight and a complete set of reliable information.

The U.S. media must play a bigger part in setting the record straight and to increase the level of transparency. Moreover, journalists need to hold senators and congressional representatives accountable, and expose those politicians exploiting the ISIL terror threat in November's upcoming congressional elections.

For its part, before allowing a return of Americans to a political and military quagmire in the Middle East, congress has a duty to examine and make public the following information, including that listed as classified intelligence:

• A full assessment of what (and who) constitutes ISIL; the organization's leadership and resources (combat troops and financial wherewithal), geographic presence and influence and control
• An assessment of the regions' various factions and motivations
• A determination of whether ISIL represents "an imminent threat"
• A full review of the results of US military action and air strikes in Iraq/Syria since August, including an accounting of civilian casualties, local reaction etc.
• A full accounting and role of US personnel in the Iraq/Syria region, including advisory and combat
• A review of the tools, methods and resources available to counter the varying threats to the U.S.

Congress should urgently convene a lame-duck session to authorize the prosecution of war against the Islamic State, and help to determine an appropriate U.S. strategy in Iraq and Syria.

Any congressional debate should also be closely monitored by the press and include an objective assessment of the impact of the gruesome beheadings of American journalists John Foley and Steven Sotloff. The mass circulation of the videos and images of the two men's murders has been integral to the narrative leading up to the decision to launch air strikes against ISIL.

Americans were pained and angry over the killing of John Foley and Steven Sotloff. Both men were dedicated journalists who braved the dangers abroad to bring transparency to human suffering and development. But their lives are no more or less valuable than those of American soldiers, who will be the first to be called on to return to a conflict that caused far more damage than good the first time round, and the consequences of which will continue to reverberate over the next several decades.

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SOURCE The Weekly Leaf