Solution for the ISIS Problem

In fact, ISIS has become a dangerous terrorist organization over the last decade. Today, ISIS possesses well-trained human resources and a large number of different kinds of weapons. It does not threaten the stability of Syria, Iraq, and many other countries of the Middle East in general, but also poses a threat to the national security of the Unites States and many other Western countries as well. Sending ground troops by the United States is the only solution for the ISIS problem, as it cannot be solved diplomatically. Moreover, the government’s strategy to fight the terrorist organization with the use of air forces does not work, and more Americans support the expansion of the country’s military involvement in the conflict.

It is actually hopeless for the United States to solve the issue with ISIS diplomatically due to the ideology of the terrorist organization. The people of ISIS simply do not understand such Western ideals as peace, democracy and freedom of choice among many others. Their views are different and radical ones. For instance, according to Graeme Wood (2015), it can be stated that ISIS does not view genocide as something wrong or immoral, and it also “rejects peace as a matter of principle” (p. 1). It is impossible to reassure such people who view peace as a weakness that it is a normal state of being and a factor contributing to the development of a country and well-being of its people. Furthermore, the Islamic State simply cannot accept any kind of constitutional changes because of its religious views, even under the threat of its vanishing (Wood, 2015). These people view changes also as a weakness and even deny the idea of their adaptation to the constantly changing world. In fact, the radicalness of Muslims in neglecting any kind of changes once led to the fall of the Ottoman Empire; however, modern Muslims still have not learnt the lesson. The worst feature of the ideology of ISIS is that “it considers itself a harbinger of – and headline player in – the imminent end of the world” (Wood, 2014, p. 1). Therefore, they have nothing to lose and will fight to the death, no matter whose one, and no diplomatic dialogue could change their minds and destructive intentions.

ISIS is not only a very dangerous organization in the region, but also in the Western world and America in particular. Minorities of Muslims are in every Western country, and some of them do pose a threat to local people. According to Ed Royce, “Some 20,000 foreign fighters from more than 90 countries now make up its [ISIS] ranks’ including at least 3,400 from the West and more than 150 Americans” (as cited in Martosko, 2015, p. 1). Today, there is no way to control movements of American Muslims and their contacts with terrorists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria as the organization recruits foreigners on the Internet. At the same time, it is impossible to predict the behavior of some American Muslims who may be secret members of ISIS and can possibly turn their attention to the United States and start attacking the country’s targets. ISIS massacres various religious minorities, including Christians within its territory. In addition, the Islamic State has a specific attitude to the Americans, especially after the Iraq War. ISIS employs waterboarding to their captives as a direct response to a similar torture inflicted by the American government on Al-Qaeda captives during the war on terror (Corcoran, 2014). The deaths of innocent Americans Kayla Mueller, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and James Foley serve as a proof of the dangerousness of ISIS and its negative attitude to the United States. For instance, ISIS captors tortured James Foley, an American journalist, horrifyingly before killing him in a propaganda video. These tortures included waterboarding and virtual starvation among others. Kieran Corcoran (2014) writes that Foley’s fellow captives noted, “He received the most brutal treatment out of dozens of hostages because he was American” (p. 1). In fact, the ISIS ideology can be also characterized by their hate for the United State and its people. Thus, the decision of the United States to send ground troops to defeat the Islamic State is rather “self-defense: to disrupt ISIS before it tries to attack Americans in the region or inside the United States” (Coll, 2014, p. 1). The country needs to use an effective strategy to defeat such a complicated terrorist organization, and ground troops are definitely an inevitable part of it.

In fact, the strategy of the United States to use air forces to defeat ISIS was not as effective as it was expected by the government. According to Steve Coll (2014), ISIS is an increasingly “hybrid organization, on the model of Hezbollah—part terrorist network, part guerrilla army, part proto-state” (p. 1). Therefore, it is hard to defeat such a complex organization without using all the tools available to the United States. Coll (2015) adds that ISIS “has former military officers who can fly helicopters, spot artillery, and maneuver in battle” (p. 1). The group is trained well and provided with modern weapons. Therefore, the American air forces should be supported by ground troops in order to have a chance to defeat the highly dangerous terrorist organization. Actually, more and more Americans start believing in the necessity of sending ground troops to fight ISIS finally. Niall McCarthy (2015) states, “Even though air strikes in Iraq and Syria have stalled the momentum of ISIS militants, less than one in four Americans believe they can be defeated through air power alone” (p. 1). Thus, expanding the American military involvement seems a necessary move even to common people.

As a result, over a half of Americans support sending ground troops by the United States to battle ISIS. According to the YouGov (2015) poll, 52 percent of people support sending ground troops as they believe that the United States have almost no other alternatives. Of course, when it comes to democrats, their points of view are divided regarding this issue. However, the Republicans do not have so many doubts. Up to 69 percent of them says that they favor the deployment of ground troops according to Niall McCarthy (2015). The support of the military involvement of the United States will only increase within society; however, probably, there is not much time left before the situation with ISIS will get out of control.

In conclusion, to solve the ISIS problem, the United States should send troops, as there is no hope for it to be solved diplomatically. The strategy of the American government to use air forces only in the fight with such a complex terrorist organization has already proven ineffective. In addition, more and more Americans support the expansion of the military involvement of the United States in resistance of the West to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Americans simply do not have another choice. ISIS is a very dangerous organization as its people intend to kill all unfaithful and Americans in particular. If the United States does not start resisting them first, the Americans will pay a high price.

Related Free Political Essays