Monday, April 25, 2016

Special Ops in Syria by Matthew Homsher 9th



Summary: President Barack Obama said that he would be committing 250 U.S. special operations forces to Syria to “keep up this momentum” against ISIS. The troops will not be placed in combat roles. The forces have been placed there for the purpose of bolstering the local forces, which will entail additional training and assistance. This brings the overall number of personnel in Syria to 300. President Obama announced this news in Hanover, Germany; only a week after Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that 200 U.S. troops would be going to fight ISIS in Iraq. The Islamic State was the primary purpose of President Obama’s presence in Germany and ended a journey that also took him to Saudi Arabia and Great Britain to discuss similar matters.

Synopsis: President Barack Obama seems to be using a modified version of the Nixon Doctrine and Flexible Response in order to combat ISIS. He does not want to engage in another war that would commit a massive number of troops to Iraq and Syria. This is a reasonable action considering the President’s term is coming to an end. It is also reasonable considering the difficulty of combatting a terrorist organization in that sort of environment. The enemy can disappear rather quickly and prefers guerilla tactics to prolong combat, seeing as how ISIS, although aggressive, is on the defending side, this is the best course of action to take when fighting a smaller, faster force like ISIS.

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