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<\/a>Our Shi\u00adite allies in the war against the ter\u00adror\u00adist Islam\u00adic State [IS<\/span>] also have a taste for ter\u00adror, which is one rea\u00adson why we prob\u00ada\u00adbly won\u2019t destroy the IS<\/span>. [Cred\u00adit: Get\u00adty Images]<\/p><\/div>Pres\u00adi\u00addent Oba\u00adma seems to have found his inner neocon.\n This past week, he called on the world to unite behind a \u201ccom\u00admon effort to extract this can\u00adcer<\/a>,<\/span>\u201d as he char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adized the Islam\u00adic State [IS<\/span>]. Our ever-bel\u00adli\u00adcose chief diplo\u00admat shunned metaphors and spoke more direct\u00adly. The IS<\/span>, Ker\u00adry said, \u201cand the wicked\u00adness it rep\u00adre\u00adsents must be destroyed<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Thus did our lat\u00adest incur\u00adsion into Iraq, which began as a mis\u00adsion to res\u00adcue Yazidis trapped on a moun\u00adtain, become some\u00adthing more. But words are cheap. War is cost\u00adly. The Pres\u00adi\u00addent lacks the resolve to make good on his threat to extract the can\u00adcer that is the Islam\u00adic State.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The prox\u00adi\u00admate cause of his provoca\u00adtive rhetoric was the decap\u00adi\u00adta\u00adtion of an Amer\u00adi\u00adcan jour\u00adnal\u00adist by a hood\u00aded IS<\/span> exe\u00adcu\u00adtion\u00ader. Our revul\u00adsion and rage are entire\u00adly jus\u00adti\u00adfied. But before fur\u00adther expand\u00ading this war, we should reflect on its ori\u00adgins, aims and poten\u00adtial costs.<\/p>\n Such reflec\u00adtion has been lit\u00adtle in evi\u00addence. The Yazidis are safe and, as it turns out, weren\u2019t in near\u00adly as dire a posi\u00adtion as we\u2019d feared. So we then dis\u00adpatched our bombers to help an uneasy coali\u00adtion of Kurds and Iraqi Shi\u00adites seize con\u00adtrol of a dam that had been held by the IS<\/span>. This time our objec\u00adtive was not to pre\u00advent a human\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan out\u00adrage, but to pro\u00adtect Amer\u00adi\u00adcans. The IS<\/span> might have blown up the dam<\/a>,<\/span> so the argu\u00adment goes, caus\u00ading the Tigris to flood and plac\u00ading US<\/span> embassy offi\u00adcials 200 miles down\u00adstream in Bagh\u00addad in dan\u00adger of get\u00adting wet.<\/p>\n That is not to belit\u00adtle the suc\u00adcess of these efforts, only to ques\u00adtion their pur\u00adpose, which remains fuzzy. We have an unde\u00adni\u00adable inter\u00adest in lib\u00ader\u00adat\u00ading Amer\u00adi\u00adcans who have been cap\u00adtured by Mus\u00adlim ter\u00adror\u00adists. The Pres\u00adi\u00addent autho\u00adrized<\/a> an unsuc\u00adcess\u00adful effort in ear\u00adly sum\u00admer to free Amer\u00adi\u00adcan jour\u00adnal\u00adist James Foley from IS<\/span> cap\u00adtiv\u00adi\u00adty. He chose not to pay the ran\u00adsom that Foley\u2019s cap\u00adtors demand\u00aded. Both deci\u00adsions were sound ones, how\u00adev\u00ader dif\u00adfi\u00adcult they may have been. It is galling to hear from Foley\u2019s for\u00admer prison mates \u2013 for\u00adeign jour\u00adnal\u00adists whose employ\u00aders or gov\u00adern\u00adments obtained their release by pay\u00ading large sums of mon\u00adey to the IS<\/span> \u2013 know\u00ading that their free\u00addom was secured by bankrolling Foley\u2019s killers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Still, we can\u2019t crit\u00adi\u00adcize oth\u00aders for nego\u00adti\u00adat\u00ading with ter\u00adror\u00adists. We do it too, even when it requires break\u00ading the law. The Gov\u00adern\u00adment Account\u00adabil\u00adi\u00adty Office this week con\u00adclud\u00aded that the Admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion vio\u00adlat\u00aded two fed\u00ader\u00adal laws<\/a> in exchang\u00ading five high-rank\u00ading Tal\u00adiban ter\u00adror\u00adists for an army private.<\/p>\n Nor should we yield to the fash\u00adion of brand\u00ading the IS<\/span> as the worst ter\u00adror\u00adist orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion on earth because men wear\u00ading masks mur\u00adder peo\u00adple in pub\u00adlic. The IS<\/span> holds no patent on atroc\u00adi\u00adty. Hamas has attract\u00aded enor\u00admous sym\u00adpa\u00adthy around the world, in spite of \u2013 or per\u00adhaps because of \u2013 its aggres\u00adsion against Israel. But after Israeli strikes killed three Hamas lead\u00aders, the orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion took revenge by bru\u00adtal\u00adly exe\u00adcut\u00ading on a pub\u00adlic street 18 Gazans<\/a>,<\/span> whom they accused of trea\u00adson. \u201cWe should clean our area of these peo\u00adple before we cleanse it of the Jews,\u201d an approv\u00ading bystander told Reuters.<\/p>\n And then there are the Shi\u00adite fanat\u00adics for whom we are pro\u00advid\u00ading air sup\u00adport. On Fri\u00adday, Shi\u00adite mili\u00adti\u00ada\u00admen shot up a Sun\u00adni mosque dur\u00ading after\u00adnoon prayers, killing 65 peo\u00adple<\/a> (and pro\u00advok\u00ading a series of retal\u00adia\u00adto\u00adry bomb\u00adings by Sun\u00adnis<\/a> that have killed dozens more). This is no iso\u00adlat\u00aded inci\u00addent. Our new best friends report\u00aded\u00adly keep \u201c<\/span>hit lists\u201d<\/a> of Sun\u00adni foes and have the unpleas\u00adant habit of killing them, drag\u00adging their corpses through the streets and hang\u00ading them from util\u00adi\u00adty poles<\/a>.<\/p>\n One would think that by now we would have learned that this is what jihadists of all per\u00adsua\u00adsions do. Inhu\u00adman\u00adi\u00adty in the name of Allah is their call\u00ading card. While I\u2019m will\u00ading to con\u00adcede that the ston\u00adings, cru\u00adci\u00adfix\u00adions and decap\u00adi\u00adta\u00adtions favored by the IS<\/span> are more shock\u00ading to our sen\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adties, I can\u2019t escape the sense that we\u2019re split\u00adting hairs when we base our sup\u00adport for Shi\u00adite par\u00adti\u00adsans over their Sun\u00adni oppo\u00adnents on such distinctions.<\/p>\n Iran is hap\u00adpy that we\u2019ve tak\u00aden the Shi\u00adites\u2019 part. Our bomb\u00adings, what\u00adev\u00ader their pur\u00adpose, are win\u00adning the approval of the aya\u00adtol\u00adlahs. Iran sup\u00adports us because we\u2019re doing their dirty work \u2014 engag\u00ading the jihadists who are seek\u00ading to over\u00adthrow their client Bashar al-Assad in Syr\u00adia and pre\u00advent\u00ading the dis\u00adso\u00adlu\u00adtion of the Shi\u00adite-dom\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded gov\u00adern\u00adment in Bagh\u00addad. We have become the air wing of the Iran\u00adian mil\u00adi\u00adtary, spar\u00ading the theoc\u00adra\u00adcy from the con\u00adse\u00adquences of its poi\u00adso\u00adnous inter\u00adven\u00adtions in Iraq, Syr\u00adia, Lebanon and Gaza. Per\u00adhaps we believe that by bomb\u00ading Sun\u00adni lunatics, we will per\u00adsuade Iran to give up its nuclear aspi\u00adra\u00adtions. That seems a bit of a long\u00adshot and, in any case, a flim\u00adsy jus\u00adti\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtion for war.<\/p>\n If we real\u00adly mean to fight a war to destroy the IS<\/span>, then we need to count its cost. That group, as the Chair\u00adman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, can\u00adnot be defeat\u00aded with\u00adout expand\u00ading the war into Syr\u00adia<\/a>,<\/span> some\u00adthing the President\u2019s deputy nation\u00adal secu\u00adri\u00adty advis\u00ader sug\u00adgests that we are pre\u00adpared to do<\/a>. Mr. Assad will sure\u00adly thank us for that.<\/p>\n Such an expan\u00adsion, how\u00adev\u00ader, won\u2019t like\u00adly be enough. If the last Iraq War taught us any\u00adthing, it is that sec\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan insur\u00adgen\u00adcies are not eas\u00adi\u00adly uproot\u00aded. Van\u00adquish\u00ading the IS<\/span><\/a> can\u00adnot be done on the cheap, in short order, or mere\u00adly from the air. It will take time and almost cer\u00adtain\u00adly require boots on the ground. I take the Pres\u00adi\u00addent at his word that he is unwill\u00ading to do that. The major\u00adi\u00adty of Amer\u00adi\u00adcans would not back him if he did.<\/p>\n The Pres\u00adi\u00addent thus finds him\u00adself in an odd place: unwill\u00ading to stand aside and let the Iraqis and their Iran\u00adian patrons sort this out for them\u00adselves, but equal\u00adly unwill\u00ading to do what it would take to make good on his threats against the IS<\/span>. Instead, he\u2019ll like\u00adly order up weeks or months of bomb\u00ading mis\u00adsions, while hop\u00ading that the Iraqis some\u00adhow find a way to form a mar\u00adgin\u00adal\u00adly func\u00adtion\u00adal gov\u00adern\u00adment, reduce sec\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan blood\u00adshed, field a rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly com\u00adpe\u00adtent army (albeit one pop\u00adu\u00adlat\u00aded by Shi\u00adite fanat\u00adics), and at least restrain the ambi\u00adtions of the IS<\/span>.<\/p>\n It will not, how\u00adev\u00ader, destroy the new\u00adly mint\u00aded caliphate. Extract\u00ading their can\u00adcer\u00adous jihadism requires more effort than we are will\u00ading to expend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pres\u00adi\u00addent Oba\u00adma seems to have found his inner neo\u00adcon. This past week, he called on the world to unite behind a \u201ccom\u00admon effort to extract this can\u00adcer,\u201d as he char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adized the Islam\u00adic State [IS<\/span>]. Our ever-bel\u00adli\u00ad\u00adcose chief diplo\u00admat shunned metaphors \u2026 Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading