By Tim Baldwin
ISIS allegedly threatens Western Civilization’s way of life, especially America’s. Even the supposed “isolationist” Sen. Rand Paul has stated that ISIS has “declared war on the United States.” Of course, for Sen. John McCain and his like, America needs hardly any reason to “bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.” Yet despite these claims, Congress has not declared war on the “Islamic State.”
The Constitution states that only Congress has the power to declare war. The purposes for this are many, including, to check the president; unify the national will; unify the president and Congress; define the objectives and enemy; communicate our seriousness to the world; avoid political posturing on the issue; and conclude and resolve the conflict quickly. Since we have not declared war on nation or group we have fought for generations, these objectives are ignored and politicians avoid constitutional constraints.
Recently, the New York Times observed that Obama is scrambling to find legal justification to launch a war and Congress is avoiding declaring war. This begs the question: if war against ISIS is so popular, why does Congress avoid declaring it (on this election year)? One theory suggests that this “war” is more political positioning than getting a job done. To quote the New York Times, “how pathetic.”
By Joe Carbonari
Declare war on the idea that you can use violence as directly and indiscriminately as ISIS is in Syria and Iraq. Observance of that line of thinking is dangerously large and growing. We must halt its growth, contain its present existence, and then shrink it to a state of controllable size and strength.
We must do it out of a responsibility to civilization as a whole, as well as to our own, personal, security of mind and body, especially when world travel marks our lives.
As a people we have a big role to play, but ours is not to do the street fighting. In the end the locals must end up policing themselves. They will have to work out their own disagreements, including whose heads can be cut off, why, and when. At this point enough of the world agrees that adherence to the extremist, ISIS, line of thinking, and acting, is unacceptable and must be stopped.
Our responsibility is to show strength when it is called for and restraint when rather it is needed. The soldiers actually on the ground are largely going to be Iraqi government troops, as much as they might be willing and able to fight, and the Shia militias. Iranian influence, and support, is deep and pervasive.
We must wage a diplomatic war as well. We should show our best and control the rest, and then go home.