Is The Fight Against Islamic Jihadism Losing Its Momentum?

Smoke rises over Syrian town of Kobani after an airstrike, as seen from the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province, October 18, 2014. Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach

Washington Post editorial: The U.S. fight against jihadism has lost its momentum

WNU Editor: The Washington Post clearly believes that the war against the Islamic State/al Qaeda is losing momentum .... citing recent IS territorial gains and frustration among Iraqi officials that the U.S. war effort is falling short as well as an uptick in Al Qaeda inspired terror attacks in Europe. What's my take .... the Washington Post's editorial board is probably right. The solution is to expand the war effort, but there is a great deal of reluctance among the U.S. public to pursue such a direction .... and the White House is (understandably) reflecting this mood. They (the White House) know that the first step necessary to change the momentum would be to have U.S. Special Forces on the ground directing air strikes against IS targets in Iraq .... and after that .... U.S. combat troops. Faced with such a choice ... and no clear end game/exit strategy .... with the exception of war hawks like Sen. McCain/Sen. Graham/etc. .... public support to re-engage into another Iraq war (for example) is minimal at best .... and when the body bags and costs start to escalate .... I would wager that it would probably plummet to 80% strongly against. As to the other conflict zones .... Syria, Yemen, Libya, Nigeria, etc. .... those are even greater "black-holes" that will need the deployment of massive resources to make a difference .... resources that the U.S. also has little if any interest to risk.

In the end .... we in the West do need to have a debate on what is important to our national interests/security needs .... and what should be done. But for the moment we are not having that debate .... just a piecemeal policy of a little bit here and a little bit there .... and hoping that everything works out for the best. Hell .... we are not even in agreement on how to define this conflict .... with the White House even ruling out that we are in a war against radical Islam.