The United States military will
never be able to pull out of the Middle East. This state has become too integrated
in this region that leaving the area may cause everything gained within the
last 15 plus years to collapse. Even when the end of ISIS comes, the extremist
views will still exist and these extremist ideologies will always be a threat to
the Western ways of life. Therefore, the War on Terror will be a never-ending
battle against radical ideologies.
President George W. Bush started
the infamous War on Terror when he stated, “[W]e will pursue
nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism…” (Jones). Little did Bush know, this so-called war would
be a seemingly endless fight to implement democracy in places where the
citizens have little interest in it. The majority of the Middle East see the
Quran as the way things ought to be. The teachings in Quran clash with the
ideas of democracy in major ways, such as separation of Church and State. Also,
a lot of the radical ideologies develop from teachings in the Quran. Consequently,
there is no way to stop these interpretations from being put forth unless the
Quran gets destroyed. This however, is impractical and will problem cause even
more of an uproar.
Similarly, these interpretations/ideologies will not be
destroyed once a certain group or even state is demolished. ISIS may be on the
decline but this does not mean their beliefs are dying with them. These
extremist ideologies are now deeply imbedded into the minds of civilians, and
will continue to influence their actions. Furthermore, it is quite possible
that an ex-affiliate of ISIS will go off and create his own ideological
terrorist group that could be even more threatening to the United States and
its allies.
Therefore, to prevent these extremists from regrouping and terrorizing western ideals, the United States will have to stay in these areas to act as an
unofficial police force to ensure no insurgencies try to form and attack
westernized countries. This does mean military presence is needed. There are roughly
30,000 United States military personnel spread across the Middle East at the
moment (2017 Index of U.S. Military Strength). These troops’ main focus should
be on identifying extremist bunkers and eliminating them. Simply bombing these
areas does not ensure that the targets will be killed. Sending in soldiers will
ensure that the target is identified and killed.
This does raise the risk of more military deaths, but it is a
risk that needs to be taken. Leaving the Middle East after the defeat of ISIS
will be an open invitation for any other group that wishes to take over. There
cannot be a repeat of what happened when the United States pulled out of Iraq. United
States’ troops left Iraq before it was ready to fend for itself, allowing ISIS
to gain power and land in a decent chunk of the country (Mansour). This created
a more global problem for the United States compared to the more localized
problem that American troops were dealing with in Iraq at the time.
There will never be peace and unity in the Middle East. There
are way too many ideologies and beliefs that clash with one another. To ensure
none of these groups with extremist views attack or threaten other ways of
life, the United States needs to be there and act as a sort of peacekeeper. This
won’t fix every single problem but it will increase the likelihood of keeping
the ideologies contained.
I agree with much of what you have said, that the U.S. needs to at minimum, monitor the situations in the Middle East. Especially as the U.S. cannot physically solve the root of the problems in the Middle East (and their attempts to do so now-a-days often result in tensions rising further). That is up to the Middle East, and the many groups who oppose each other within it. I feel that we should try and monitor potential threats, step in when necessary, and do our best to create conditions which minimally/ do not threaten us, while also allowing the Middle East to begin to reach a place where instead dialogue that could alleviate these tensions - to any extent- could occur. The U.S. is not responsible for fixing the Middle East, but we should - along with the rest of the west- at least attempt to protect ourselves and aid in creating conditions in which these groups can begin to find their own agreements/ peace with each other, even it is minimal.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with many of the points that you make. While there may someday come an end to the organization ISIS, the ideologies that the group perpetuates will never disappear altogether. As you state, extremist ideologies have spread, especially within the last two decades, in a way that could reach civilians. Therefore, while one specific radicalized group may break or disband, the values that they express will long outlast the specific organization. I also agree that the U.S. attempt to implement democracy in an area where there is no interest is futile. If they ideas of a group of people directly contradict the values of democracy, the same methods that work in the United States will not work in such an area. Therefore, by interfering in governmental issues where help from the United States is unwanted is fruitless and bound to cause problems. While I believe it is important for the United States to protect itself against threatening groups, I believe the extremist ideologies such as those of ISIS will spread regardless of military presence, especially considering their ability to recruit via internet. However, I believe you make a good point in stating that ISIS's ability to gain land contributed to much of their power that posed a threat to the United States government.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite apparent that the end of radicalism in the Middle East sees no end any time soon, but is it necessarily our responsibility to maintain the little bit of order that we do in the region? We have many Western and military allies throughout Europe and a democratic presence in Israel. I'm sure there is something that can be arranged with other nations in order for them to assist in the efforts, if not take them over, considering their proximity to the troubled nations. Further, this threat is not only present to the United States. These other nations should have a stake in maintaining their own democracies, as well. However, you make some very good points overall, especially in that we need to have a focus on eliminating extremism and extremists.
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