This is something we touched upon last month. And this is something we must talk about today. Iraq is pretty much on a razor's edge right now. And now that Isis is killing journalists along with soldiers as it expands into Syria, alarm bells are ringing.
Even here in Nevada, Members of Congress are demanding some sort of strategy to take down Isis. But what should we do?
The usual "TEA" fueled suspects actually seem to be advocating exactly what Isis wants: a 21st century "crusade". And for a number of Republican politicians, neoconservative belligere nce is suddenly en vogue again. We guess all it takes is a foreign crisis for "libertarian populism" to be thrown out the window.
President Obama has already ordered air strikes against Isis in Iraq. Now, the President is considering rallying allies to expand the air campaign into Syria. This is now on top of the agenda at the NATO summit in Estonia (alongside the ongoing conflict in Ukraine).
Already, we're hearing plenty of opinions on what to do in Syria & Iraq. And that's all fine & dandy. We just need to see this debate move into Congress.
That's where it needs to be. That's where military action must be authorized before it proceeds. And no matter how much they want to avoid going on record with a floor vote, that's what must happen.
There are no easy answers here. There are plenty of good reasons to doubt the utility of yet another large scale US military intervention in the Middle East... But can we afford to do nothing? Some sort of action may be needed to curb Isis, but that action probably shouldn't involve useless bluster.
So what should we do? What we know for sure is that it needs to start with Congress stepping up to the plate.
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