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<\/a>Sun\u00adni rad\u00adi\u00adcals are threat\u00aden\u00ading to mas\u00adsacre an obscure eth\u00adnore\u00adli\u00adgious group known as Yazidis. The Pres\u00adi\u00addent has decid\u00aded to fight the jihadists with bombs instead of hash\u00adtags. But it\u2019s not clear why. [Cred\u00adit: Busi\u00adness Insider]<\/p><\/div>\u201cGreat nations need orga\u00adniz\u00ading prin\u00adci\u00adples, and \u2018Don\u2019t do stu\u00adpid stuff\u2019 is not an orga\u00adniz\u00ading prin\u00adci\u00adple.\u201d<\/em> For\u00admer Sec\u00adre\u00adtary of State Hillary Clin\u00adton<\/a>.\n Anoth\u00ader August. Anoth\u00ader flir\u00adta\u00adtion with war. In the psy\u00adchodra\u00adma that is the Oba\u00adma Pres\u00adi\u00adden\u00adcy, our hero vac\u00adil\u00adlates between war and peace, detach\u00adment and inter\u00adven\u00adtion, rid\u00ading out the storm and steer\u00ading into its teeth. The rest of us are left to guess whether he will respond to the next human\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan cri\u00adsis with bombs or hash\u00adtags<\/a>. There is, as Mrs. Clin\u00adton notes, no \u201corga\u00adniz\u00ading prin\u00adci\u00adple\u201d to lend coher\u00adence to our for\u00adeign policy.<\/p>\n Last August, the Pres\u00adi\u00addent let us eaves\u00addrop on his inter\u00adnal dia\u00adlogue over Syr\u00adia. He want\u00aded to top\u00adple Syr\u00adi\u00adan strong\u00adman Bashar al-Assad, whose atroc\u00adi\u00adties had stunned the world. The Pres\u00adi\u00addent declared his inten\u00adtion to bomb Syr\u00adia with\u00adout Con\u00adgres\u00adsion\u00adal autho\u00adriza\u00adtion. Then he decid\u00aded to ask Con\u00adgress for a res\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion approv\u00ading the action and sched\u00aduled a nation\u00adal tele\u00advi\u00adsion appear\u00adance on the eve of the vote to appeal for its pas\u00adsage. But he soon changed his mind again, decid\u00ading that the whole bomb\u00ading thing was a bad idea after all and ask\u00ading Con\u00adgress not to pass the resolution.<\/p>\n That inde\u00adci\u00adsive sequence of deci\u00adsions, his for\u00admer Sec\u00adre\u00adtary of State now tells us, was a \u201cfail\u00adure\u201d that led direct\u00adly to the ascen\u00addan\u00adcy of the Islam\u00adic State (IS<\/span>), the anti-Assad force against whom we are now at war in Iraq. The Pres\u00adi\u00addent has decid\u00aded not to reprise the Syr\u00adi\u00adan \u201cfail\u00adure,\u201d but he strug\u00adgles to explain why. Here is one of his attempts<\/a>:<\/p>\n Let me be clear about why we must act, and act now. When we face a sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion like we do on that moun\u00adtain \u2014 with inno\u00adcent peo\u00adple fac\u00ading the prospect of vio\u00adlence on a hor\u00adrif\u00adic scale, when we have a man\u00addate to help \u2014 in this case, a request from the Iraqi gov\u00adern\u00adment \u2014 and when we have the unique capa\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adties to help avert a mas\u00adsacre, then I believe the Unit\u00aded States of Amer\u00adi\u00adca can\u00adnot turn a blind eye.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n We\u2019re bomb\u00ading the IS<\/span>, the Pres\u00adi\u00addent stat\u00aded, for the fol\u00adlow\u00ading rea\u00adsons: 1) Iraq\u2019s gov\u00adern\u00adment asked us to; 2) \u201cinno\u00adcent peo\u00adple are fac\u00ading vio\u00adlence on a hor\u00adrif\u00adic scale\u201d; and 3) we have \u201cunique capa\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adties\u201d to pre\u00advent that from happening.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s take those in order, begin\u00adning with the notion that Iraq\u2019s gov\u00adern\u00adment invit\u00aded us to ini\u00adti\u00adate the bomb\u00ading cam\u00adpaign. That\u2019s a bit mis\u00adlead\u00ading. Iraq did invite us to inter\u00advene against the Sun\u00adni insur\u00adgents \u2013 last year<\/a>. The Pres\u00adi\u00addent balked. With\u00adin months, the IS<\/span> had over\u00adrun vast swaths of Iraq.<\/p>\n More\u00adover, Iraq doesn\u2019t cur\u00adrent\u00adly have a gov\u00adern\u00adment and that, in part, is our doing. We decid\u00aded to med\u00addle in their elec\u00adtoral process, insist\u00ading that Prime Min\u00adis\u00adter Nouri al-Mali\u00adki step aside in favor of anoth\u00ader Shi\u00adite that would meet with Tehran\u2019s approval. Mali\u00adki, whose par\u00adty polled first in the April elec\u00adtions, was squeezed out ear\u00adli\u00ader this week and Haider al-Aba\u00addi giv\u00aden 30 days to form a gov\u00adern\u00adment. Until such a gov\u00adern\u00adment is formed, Bagh\u00addad will remain hamstrung.<\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>The prospect of vio\u00adlence on a hor\u00adrif\u00adic scale,\u201d sad\u00adly, is hard\u00adly con\u00adfined to Mt. Sin\u00adjar. Its scale and bru\u00adtal\u00adi\u00adty are met or exceed\u00aded in many places through\u00adout the world. One need look no fur\u00adther than Iraq\u2019s neigh\u00adbor, Syr\u00adia, to find bru\u00adtal\u00adi\u00adty that, in the Pres\u00adi\u00adden\u00adt\u2019s mind, did\u00adn\u2019t mer\u00adit our intervention.<\/p>\n Final\u00adly, our capa\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty of bomb\u00ading Iraq is hard\u00adly \u201cunique.\u201d Many oth\u00aders, includ\u00ading West\u00adern nations that joined in our com\u00adbat efforts in the last Iraq war, have the capac\u00adi\u00adty to bomb Iraq but have so far sat this one out. What is unique is our will\u00ading\u00adness to return to war in Iraq, despite the pre\u00advi\u00adous war\u2019s over\u00adwhelm\u00ading unpop\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adi\u00adty at home and abroad.<\/p>\n The Pres\u00adi\u00addent has offered a fourth ratio\u00adnale for the bomb\u00ading sor\u00adties: pro\u00adtect\u00ading Amer\u00adi\u00adcans. In this case, he is refer\u00adring to the hun\u00addreds of \u201cmil\u00adi\u00adtary advis\u00aders\u201d that he him\u00adself dis\u00adpatched to the coun\u00adtry. The argu\u00adment is some\u00adwhat cir\u00adcu\u00adlar \u2014 we are now bomb\u00ading Sun\u00adni jihadists to pro\u00adtect the Amer\u00adi\u00adcans we sent to help fight the Sun\u00adni jihadists. If their safe\u00adty is of para\u00admount con\u00adcern, he could sim\u00adply bring them home.<\/p>\n That is the course we have tak\u00aden in Libya, a coun\u00adtry we bombed in 2011. In that case, we tar\u00adget\u00aded gov\u00adern\u00adment forces that were inflict\u00ading casu\u00adal\u00adties on rebel troops. The effort turned out to be a mil\u00adi\u00adtary suc\u00adcess but a dis\u00adas\u00adter in every oth\u00ader sense. Muam\u00admar Gaddafi\u2019s ouster led to chaos of such lethal\u00adi\u00adty that the State Depart\u00adment last month evac\u00adu\u00adat\u00aded<\/a> its employ\u00adees and warned<\/a> Amer\u00adi\u00adcans to get out of the coun\u00adtry imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly. One hopes that our lat\u00adest Iraqi adven\u00adture doesn\u2019t come to a sim\u00adi\u00adlar end.<\/p>\n It is hard to know what our ends are. So far, they seem to con\u00adsist in reliev\u00ading a siege of the Yazidis. But it\u2019s not clear that the Pres\u00adi\u00addent intends to with\u00addraw from Iraq if our bombers and ground troops \u2013 sor\u00adry, \u201cadvis\u00aders\u201d \u2013 man\u00adage to res\u00adcue the Yazidis. The Pres\u00adi\u00addent has been broad\u00adly hint\u00ading that if the Iraqis sacked Mali\u00adki, we might offer more robust mil\u00adi\u00adtary sup\u00adport. Now that Bagh\u00addad has oblig\u00aded us, our Sec\u00adre\u00adtary of State sug\u00adgests that such may indeed be in the off\u00ading. \u201cWe are pre\u00adpared to con\u00adsid\u00ader addi\u00adtion\u00adal polit\u00adi\u00adcal, eco\u00adnom\u00adic and secu\u00adri\u00adty options,\u201d Ker\u00adry said<\/a>,<\/span> \u201cas Iraq\u2019s gov\u00adern\u00adment starts to build a new government.\u201d<\/p>\n It is not clear what these addi\u00adtion\u00adal \u201csecu\u00adri\u00adty options\u201d might be or where they might lead us. What is clear is that the Admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion has aban\u00addoned its long\u00adstand\u00ading pol\u00adi\u00adcy of putting Iraq in the rear view mir\u00adror. Until quite recent\u00adly, they had reject\u00aded the Bush Admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion\u2019s pol\u00adi\u00adcy of sup\u00adplant\u00adi\u00adng a bru\u00adtal dic\u00adta\u00adtor with a pop\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly-elect\u00aded gov\u00adern\u00adment inclu\u00adsive of all fac\u00adtions. The Amer\u00adi\u00adcan elec\u00adtorate resound\u00ading\u00adly spurned that vision and con\u00adtin\u00adues to lament its cost. They embraced Pres\u00adi\u00addent Obama\u2019s deci\u00adsion to with\u00addraw entire\u00adly with\u00adout leav\u00ading any resid\u00adual troop pres\u00adence. That deci\u00adsion led direct\u00adly<\/a> to the mad\u00adness that engulfs Mesopotamia.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve plunged into that mad\u00adness, for rea\u00adsons that remain obscure. In that sense, our new Iraq adven\u00adture fits per\u00adfect\u00adly with a root\u00adless for\u00adeign pol\u00adi\u00adcy bereft of an \u201corga\u00adniz\u00ading prin\u00adci\u00adple.\u201d We pressed the Israelis for a cease\u00adfire, but urged the Ukrain\u00adian gov\u00adern\u00adment to vio\u00adlate one, a deci\u00adsion that has led to numer\u00adous civil\u00adian casu\u00adal\u00adties<\/a>,<\/span> a widen\u00ading refugee cri\u00adsis<\/a> and the risk of a larg\u00ader war. We rose in full-throat\u00aded denun\u00adci\u00ada\u00adtion<\/a> when the Israelis struck near a UN<\/span> school, but stayed mum when Kiev forces shelled a hos\u00adpi\u00adtal<\/a>.<\/p>\n These con\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adtions would be more under\u00adstand\u00adable if we had clear objec\u00adtives and goals. We don\u2019t. This isn\u2019t entire\u00adly the President\u2019s fault. We all seem a bit uncer\u00adtain of America\u2019s pur\u00adpose in the world. Repub\u00adli\u00adcan hawks rarely pass up the oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty to call for mil\u00adi\u00adtary strikes wher\u00adev\u00ader trou\u00adble aris\u00ades. A new breed of con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive iso\u00adla\u00adtion\u00adists increas\u00ading\u00adly sound like their coun\u00adter\u00adparts on the Left, who con\u00adgen\u00adi\u00adtal\u00adly oppose Amer\u00adi\u00adcan mil\u00adi\u00adtary inter\u00adven\u00adtion. The less ide\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal among us sim\u00adply seem weary of war.<\/p>\n Pres\u00adi\u00addent Oba\u00adma has the unen\u00advi\u00adable job of defin\u00ading our inter\u00adests, set\u00adting our course, and win\u00adning Con\u00adgres\u00adsion\u00adal approval of his deci\u00adsions to employ mil\u00adi\u00adtary force. The task con\u00adtin\u00adues to con\u00adfound him.<\/p>\n He could begin by rec\u00adog\u00adniz\u00ading that the US<\/span>, for all its errors and flaws, has gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly been a force for good. That is some\u00adthing, Mrs. Clin\u00adton sug\u00adgest\u00aded in a recent inter\u00adview<\/a>,<\/span> that the Pres\u00adi\u00addent hasn\u2019t accept\u00aded. \u201cYou know, when you\u2019re down on your\u00adself, and when you are hun\u00adker\u00ading down and pulling back, you\u2019re not going to make any bet\u00adter deci\u00adsions than when you were aggres\u00adsive\u00adly, bel\u00adliger\u00adent\u00adly putting your\u00adself for\u00adward,\u201d she said. \u201cOne issue is that we don\u2019t even tell our own sto\u00adry very well these days.\u201d<\/p>\n We can\u2019t tell our sto\u00adry con\u00advinc\u00ading\u00adly if we don\u2019t believe it. Ours is a sto\u00adry of tri\u00adumph over the twen\u00adti\u00adeth cen\u00adtu\u00adry\u2019s two most tyran\u00adni\u00adcal forces: fas\u00adcism and com\u00admu\u00adnism. The world today is more free because of the val\u00adues we pro\u00adfess and the sac\u00adri\u00adfices we made. We have so far been less suc\u00adcess\u00adful in meet\u00ading the chal\u00adlenges of jihadism, veer\u00ading between \u201cpulling back\u201d and \u201cbel\u00adliger\u00adent\u00adly putting [our\u00adselves] for\u00adward.\u201d We have yet to devise a strat\u00ade\u00adgy for con\u00adfronting this men\u00adace. But we should have con\u00adfi\u00addence that we are right and they are wrong and that we will pre\u00advail. Absent that con\u00adfi\u00addence, our actions will con\u00adtin\u00adue to seem ran\u00addom and ineffectual.<\/p>\n Sec\u00adond, we should return to con\u00adsti\u00adtu\u00adtion\u00adal val\u00adues. The deci\u00adsion to dis\u00adpatch troops into harm\u2019s way is not the President\u2019s alone. Sav\u00ading the Yazidis from exter\u00admi\u00adna\u00adtion would be a good thing, but the Pres\u00adi\u00addent is not free to do good things absent legal author\u00adi\u00adty. That author\u00adi\u00adty resides in Con\u00adgress. Get\u00adting Con\u00adgress to approve the use of mil\u00adi\u00adtary force is messy, as the Pres\u00adi\u00addent learned last year with Syr\u00adia. Messy and necessary.<\/p>\n Many in Con\u00adgress don\u2019t want to own these deci\u00adsions. Even mem\u00adbers of the President\u2019s par\u00adty want to keep their options open, sup\u00adport\u00ading the mis\u00adsion, but warn\u00ading that it shouldn\u2019t go too far or last too long. They already are viewed as under\u00addogs in the Novem\u00adber elec\u00adtions. The last thing they want is to answer to vot\u00aders for a war that goes badly.<\/p>\n So they and their Repub\u00adli\u00adcan coun\u00adter\u00adparts have the lux\u00adu\u00adry of being bystanders \u2013 sup\u00adport\u00ading the effort if it goes well, damn\u00ading it if things don\u2019t work out. The Con\u00adsti\u00adtu\u00adtion requires more of them. It demands that they go on record either in favor of war or against it. Pres\u00adi\u00addent Bush, for all the crit\u00adi\u00adcism he endured, under\u00adstood this. He obtained autho\u00adriza\u00adtions for the use of mil\u00adi\u00adtary force in 2001 and 2002.<\/p>\n If the Pres\u00adi\u00addent believes the IS<\/span> pos\u00ades a threat to US<\/span> inter\u00adests, he should state that clear\u00adly and ask Con\u00adgress for the author\u00adi\u00adty to fight them. If he believes that such action is unnec\u00ades\u00adsary, too cost\u00adly or not worth the risk, then he should be clear about that as well. He has often boast\u00aded of \u201cleav\u00ading Iraq to its peo\u00adple<\/a>.\u201d He should return to that pol\u00adi\u00adcy if he reck\u00adons that war with the IS<\/span> would not advance our interests.<\/p>\n What he should not do is to order up a poor\u00adly defined mil\u00adi\u00adtary mis\u00adsion with\u00adout Con\u00adgres\u00adsion\u00adal authorization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201c<\/span>Great nations need orga\u00adniz\u00ading prin\u00adci\u00adples, and \u2018Don\u2019t do stu\u00adpid stuff\u2019 is not an orga\u00adniz\u00ading prin\u00adci\u00adple.\u201d For\u00admer Sec\u00adre\u00adtary of State Hillary Clin\u00adton. Anoth\u00ader August. Anoth\u00ader flir\u00adta\u00adtion with war. In the psy\u00adchodra\u00adma that is the Oba\u00adma Pres\u00adi\u00adden\u00adcy, our hero vac\u00adil\u00adlates between war \u2026 Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading