ISIS is Not a JV Team

By now, everyone knows the story:  Barack Obama gave an interview on Thursday, November 12th, claiming ISIS was “contained.”  Twenty-four hours later, ISIS carried out the worst attack on Paris since the second World War.  Is ISIS really contained, Mr. President?

Earlier today, Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement saying ISIS “is not 10 feet tall” and will be defeated.  He believes we have made significant progress “fighting” ISIS. This mindset of underestimating ISIS will not get us anywhere.

President Obama described the attacks as a “setback” in the fight against ISIS.  Yet ISIS’ impact on the world’s security has never been more profound.  In the last month alone, they killed 240 people after bombing a Russian airliner, killed 80 in Lebanon in a suicide bombing, killed 130 in the Paris mass shooting, and plan on carrying out more attacks across the globe.  They continue to threaten our people, but a serious response has been neglected.

Our President does not have a good track record in foreign policy.  From Benghazi to Libya, from the Iran Nuclear Deal to the Bowe Bergdahl trade, he has done very little to help the United States’ position in foreign affairs.  With ISIS, he has a chance to make amends with the American people he has let down.  As of right now, however, it appears we will continue our mere 15-30 airstrikes a day against the Islamic State.  

ISIS could have been avoided, too.  If the President, along with his delusional Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, had not declared victory in Iraq and withdrawn so early, we would not have this group of radical savages on our hands. Despite clear signs that Iraq was not in a favorable state, Obama spoke of it like it was a new America.  “We’re leaving behind a sovereign, stable, and self-reliant Iraq,” said President Obama in December of 2011. In reality, the president created a vacuum for the Islamic State to fill, as they obliterated Iraqi forces and seized our advanced weaponry.

Now we have a Jihadist group that would make al-Qaeda shake in their boots.  They have an unprecedented amount of land, money, and oil for a terrorist group.  Unfortunately, they are not going to magically disappear; sitting back and doing nothing will end in more death.  No matter what, ISIS loathes us.  They want us dead, and they want us to fear them.  It is time to stop thinking of future consequences and deal with the problem at hand in a powerful, more direct way. It is time to stop applying band-aid solutions, and go on the attack before they attack us.

Barack Obama said of al-Qaeda:  “If a JV team puts on Lakers uniforms, that doesn’t make them Kobe Bryant.”  Hopefully the man running our country does not underestimate ISIS in the same way.