The Middle East: Should We "Just Let Them Kill Each Other"?

This piece was originally posted in Eagle Rising.



With all the horrors going on in the Middle East, most of which can be linked to Islam in one form or another, a lot of people are advocating that instead of embroiling ourselves in their conflicts at the cost of American blood and treasure, we should just sit back and let them kill each other. Actually that line of thinking is in line with what I often say about the Middle East in unguarded moments. I have often said that we should build a wall around the Middle East. Nobody gets in and nobody gets out. Israel, of course, is an exception.

I admit that is pretty simplistic thinking, which doesn't take into consideration all the geo-political considerations that the big boys in Washington worry about. After all, I don't have geniuses like John Brennan, James Clapper and Susan Rice giving me all the latest intelligence and advice. (If you believe what President Obama just told 60 Minutes, either does he.)

As most well-informed people know, there is a wide divide between the Sunni and Shi'ite branches of Islam, and for a very good reason. It all goes back to the question of who should have succeeded the Prophet Mohammad when he died in the 7th century. To this day, Sunni and Shia are killing themselves in places like Iraq. Car bombs have been going off in Iraq on a regular basis for a couple of years now, and it is noted that the ISIS fighters are Sunni dedicated to killing every last Shia they can find. Shi'ite Iran is involved in Iraq fighting ISIS, while in Syria, ISIS is fighting against Shi'ite Hezbollah and the forces of Bashar Assad. It is tempting to ask why we would even want to stop it except that a lot of innocent men, women and children are also being killed.

In addition, there are the much-embattled Christians of Syria and Iraq, who, like their co-religionists in virtually every Muslim-majority country, are in danger of losing their lives, but especially so in Syria and Iraq. I care very much about them and wish we could give them top priority as we prepare once again for thousands of refugees. (Remember the Somalis?) Unfortunately, I don't see the UN and Obama administration doing that. Diversity requires that we admit more Muslims in spite of the obvious dangers.

As to ISIS, they are a clear and present threat to the West. They have stated they will attack the US, which seems preposterous until you consider that thousands of ISIS fighters are carrying Western passports. The French citizen who carried out the attack on the Jewish center in Brussels several months back had returned to Europe after allegedly fighting with ISIS. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are going to see a lot of bloodshed on our streets in the coming months and years. It is in our interest to see as many of these animals killed in Iraq and Syria as possible with their Western passports blowing in the wind and dust. Most experts say air strikes won't be enough. Who do we have on the ground fighting ISIS as we speak? For starters, there is the Iraqi army, which is a joke. They are probably still huddling in their barracks. We have the Kurds who are ready to fight and die, but need help. We have the Syrian army, who is supposed to be our enemy. Finally, we have the other Syrian rebels, some of whom are also fighting ISIS and Assad at the same time, and some of whom are also killing Christians as well.

To be clear, I don't want to sacrifice one more American life to bring some pipe dream of democracy to the Middle East. It is a fool's errand. Nor should we send troops for the purpose of saving Arab lives. On the other hand, ISIS must be killed to the last fighter, and that is in our national security interest. Ideally, the so-called moderate Arab countries should fill that role. Yes, a handful of Arab countries are sending air support, but this is a problem every nation should help in eradicating rather than letting America make the sacrifices. Where are you, NATO?

So while the Islamists are doing a pretty good job of killing each other, we are all at risk-to say nothing of the Israelis. Can you imagine if they were overrun by these savages and their Palestinian allies and whoever else in the Arab world that wanted to launch the second Holocaust? (Thank God the Muslim Brotherhood was overturned in Egypt.)

This is a dilemma for any president to handle, and it is not an easy choice. I pray it won't require American ground troops, but one way or another, ISIS must be exterminated like the cockroaches that they are.