Sheldon Richman on Mission Creep in Iraq

On
August 7, Barack Obama said that U.S. airstrikes he was
ordering in northern Iraq were meant to protect Americans from the
Islamic State’s threat to the Kurdish city of Erbil, where the U.S.
government has a consulate. He also said Americans would be
protected anywhere in Iraq, including Baghdad. Finally, he said
airstrikes would be part of a humanitarian mission to
save “thousands — perhaps tens of thousands” — of Yezidis
who were trapped and desperate on Mount Sinjar. There are several
reasons not to intervene militarily in another country’s
conflict, even modestly. One is the potential for mission creep. We
already could detect the signs of mission creep in Iraq, writes
Sheldon Richman. Now, with the stepped-up U.S. airstrikes after
the Islamic State’s horrific execution of American
reporter Jim Foley, the signs are clearer than ever.

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