TV newscasts report that Americans are against sending ground troops to the Middle East. Most quote people as saying “The Middle East should clean up their own mess.” For months I have taken the position that we should not send ground troops to the Middle East to fight ISIS. However, as the atrocities increase, and ISIS gains new members and expands its barbaric terror to more and more countries, and since air strikes alone have not seemed to deter them, I find myself wavering.
ISIS has killed far more Shiite Muslims than Christians. Middle East Muslims will not fight alongside other Muslims with whom they have religious differences. Shamefully, we won’t see Sunnis among Middle East ground troops fighting ISIS. It’s doubtful, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Kurds and others will use ground troops without U.S. troops fighting alongside.
I decided I would like to know what Fallon residents, family and friends, think we should do. So I ask a few. They were three to one Republican. This column summarizes those responses. It’s not scientific. It’s not a survey, as such. Some responses were surprising, even strange. Some were in depth and studious. Names have been withheld to protect the innocent.
“Nuke ‘em all,” meaning the entire Middle East. “I don’t know because I haven’t been following the story.” “We should do what we always do and send in the Marines.” “Continue to bomb the hell out of them until they are a shambles, then send in our troops.”
“We should never have destabilized Iraq in the first place, but we can’t undo history. For the U.S. to put ground troops in the middle of this civil war will be as disastrous as the original Iraq War. The U.S. can provide air support, weapons, training, etc, but “boots on the ground will only complicate matters.”
“Congress should give President Obama the authority to do whatever he and the Joint Chiefs think is necessary. We need to look at it as a world problem and not just a problem for our national security. We must make sure all communications and actions address this as a world problem and not just a U.S. problem.”
“Bomb them, but don’t send in troops.” “I say no troops on the ground. Didn’t we learn anything from Iraq and Afghanistan?” “Bomb them till they are wiped-out, but don’t send in our troops.” “It’s the Middle East’s problem, they should send in troops, not us.”
“What is ISIS? I don’t have a TV.”
“Use the bomb.” I ask, do you mean the Nuclear bomb? ‘Yes” “But, I said, ISIS is scattered all over.“ “That’s okay we’ll get some of them.”
“Be scared, they are here in the U.S.” “Send in the troops right now.” “We should let the president decide, and let him do it. If he waits for Congress, nothing will get done.”
“If the countries where ISIS exists can’t or won’t do it, we’re going to have to send in troops. Bombing won’t stop these people. If we can keep them contained, on the run, and do not allow them a safe haven, they will cease to function as an organization.”
“I think we should put a $5,000 bounty on the head of every ISIS member. People over there are poor. They might go for it.” “Either we should send everything we have over there and get rid of ISIS, Al Qaeda, and the rest, or we shouldn’t send anyone and let them fight it out amongst themselves.” “Maybe we should send in American snipers to shoot them all.”
This isn’t all the comments, but they’re representative of all the opinions I received. Interestingly, only one man joined the women who all said we should not send in the troops. That was also the majority opinion.
Personally, I believe the last thing we should do is give these barbarians recognition as a religious organization. It helps ISIS recruit when we call them Islamic terrorists. They aren’t Islamic, just as the KKK, who called themselves Christians, weren’t Christians. ISIS is a group of barbaric psychopathic extremists. They must be stopped at all costs, both militarily and politically. President Obama should send in special forces in certain specific situations to support ground troops from other countries. The wholesale deployment of our troops will help ISIS recruit new members. Still, if absolutely necessary, it’s an option. It’s the very last thing we should consider, but, consider it we must, because someone must stop these cowardly, faceless, murderous butchers.
Glen McAdoo a Fallon resident, can be contacted at glynn@phonewave.net.