Containment Doesn't Work...Do We Want to Win the War against ISIS?

Does the West want to win the war against ISIS? President Obama's containment fantasy has failed. In The American Interest this weekend, EU scholar Ulrich Speck wrote : "The Syrian war has come to Europe. Half-hearted diplomatic efforts will not keep it at bay any more." ~~~~~ The US and EU watched as Syria was decimated in a vicious civil war. Then, as the war spilled over into Iraq, the US tried to contain ISIS with air strikes. Europe largely watched. But, this summer, the EU felt the civil war through the refugee crisis, driven by a flood of Syrian and other regional asylum-seekers. The Schengen area border regime is under unprecedented stress, threatening free movement in the EU - its only significant federal achievement. Some EU countries refuse to take in war refugees. Nationalist parties are on the rise. And now the result of watching and hoping has hit home : the Paris attacks were masterminded in Syria, and at least some of the terrorists were trained and indoctrinated there. ~~~~~ As for America, President Obama left Iraq indefensible and alone in 2011. He cossets Islam by refusing to call ISIS terrorists islamic or jihadist. He refused to step in to eliminate al-Assad, which his sunni Arab allies demand. He further alienated them by making a pact with shiite Iran that will end with its having nuclear weapons to turn on America's sunni allies. He has refused to arm the Kurds, the only military ground force winning against ISIS. And, he insists there is no war and refuses to put US ground troops in Syria or Iraq. ~~~~~ Does the West want to win the war against ISIS? No Western power - with the possible exception of France - seems ready to answer 'yes.' No one is prepared to fill the vacuum that the complete defeat of al-Assad would mean for Syria. It is now being filled by al-Assad henchmen and various jihadist groups. And Vladimir Putin is lurking, waiting for his moment to seize power in Syria. Obama wants at almost any price to avoid another war in Iraq. He will not undertake any Middle East state-building efforts -- his legacy goal is "ending wars," not worrying about what follows. Europe, more immediately affected by the ISIS advance, has chosen to shield itself from the war’s collateral damage by trying to pay Turkey to take in refugees and fight ISIS as its surrogate. ~~~~~ Obama Defense Secretary Ashton Carter says the US is already at war with ISIS. Carter said on Thursday : "We have to defeat ISIL. It is something that must be defeated." Carter said he agrees with French President Hollande that there is a war against ISIS, saying "Hollande has said it very well." Carter added, "We are fighting every day." ~~~~~ Dear readers, crisis should clarify leadership. We have heard French President Hollande and Russian President Putin. Their words may not be clarion calls but they recognize the crisis and are showing lradership - good or bad. US Defense Secretary Carter recognizes the crisis but he is trying to thread a needle held by his boss, Obama. Last week, GOP Senator Lindsey Graham pleaded with Obama to listen to his military. The Washington Post's Thomas Gibbons, a former US Marine, cited a video, reportedly made near Aleppo, Syria, and posted online November 17, showing rebels of the US-backed Free Syrian Army firing a US-supplied anti-tank guided missile at what it is clearly a US-made Humvee. Gibbons wrote : "Rarely do the weapons and equipment of a conflict come together in a single video to highlight how America now fights its wars, but there it is. It is unclear if the US Humvee is one that ISIS...captured from Iraqi security forces during its blitz across parts of northern Iraq last year, or if it’s from US-supplied Iraqi militias who have since entered Syria to prop up...al-Assad’s fledging forces. But one thing is for certain : that truck was built in the USA." Winning the war against ISIS is the first step in any attempt to stabilize the Middle East. Winning depends on Obama becoming rational, and taking military advice. Things Obama rarely is, or does. Win the war? Not before 2017.