It’s been said many times that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Syria’s dictator, Bashar al-Assad, is our enemy. So is the Islamic State, which also is Assad’s enemy. Thus, Assad becomes our “friend” because the United States and Syria oppose the Islamic State?
My head is spinning.
President Obama hasĀ just performed a major pivot on Syria. We’re sending about 50 special operations forces to Syria to assist the government in fighting ISIS. Does that mean we’re getting engaged in a ground war in Syria? The president says “no.” I’m not so sure.
We’re putting “boots on the ground”Ā in a place that’s been involved in a bloody civil war for many years now.
I don’t like this change of direction.
The issue of who’s our friend in the Middle East is complicated enough as it is. By my reckoning — and I’m sure many others — we have one true ally in that region: Israel. Many other nations’ leaders say they’re with us in the fight against ISIS. By and large, they have been — at best — not totally reliable.
So now we’re going to reverse ourselves and commit a handful of ground troops to this terrible conflict. Are they going to be frontline forces? The Pentagon says no and that they won’t necessarily be thrust directly into harm’s way.
What will the nation’s reaction be when we get word of the firstĀ person killed in action?
And … for what? To assist a brutal dictator who our own president has said should be removed from power?