“Kobani
does not define the strategy of the coalition,” Secretary of State
John Kerry insisted
yesterday. That’s probably a good thing, because even as the
Obama administration has committed the United States and whatever
coalition partners it can talk into dropping a few bombs to
“degrade
and destroy” Islamic State/ISIS/whatever, the Kurdish city is
poised to become conquered territory.
This is no shocker given that the Pentagon admitted
last week, “Airstrikes alone are not going to do
this….They’re not going to save the town of Kobani.”
But, for a town that “does not define the strategy of the
coalition,” Kobani and ISIS’s advance in Iraq is consuming a lot of
U.S. diplomatic effort. The State Department has been busily
negotiating with Turkey for access to its military bases and
apparently
gained just that—a commitment from Turkey that its turf can be
used for training more moderate Syrian fighters and launching
further airstrikes, neither of which, as the Petagon points out,
are getting it done.
With its long border with both Syria and Iraq, Turkey could also
act as an effective staging ground for a ground war against ISIS.
Not that President Obama would ever break his
promise to never do anything of the sort.
Unfortunately, the U.S. commitment to “degrade and destroy” ISIS
wth airstrikes—and what passes for local military forces—isn’t
working in Iraq, either. The Iraqi government now just controls one
large town, Haditha, in Anbar province. Having had their heads
handed to them figuratively, and getting ever closer to having it
done literally, provincial leaders are openly
calling for U.S. troops to intervene.
Hmmm… Maybe that
presidential vow that “I will not commit you and the rest of
our Armed Forces to fighting another ground war in Iraq” is looking
a bit shaky, after all.
Just a reminder, Mr. President: The majority of the American
people
aren’t fond of repeating that mistake.
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