But it is in Iraq where the Islamic State has been taking new territory and consolidating its earlier gains. Jihadist militants are fighting for control of key cities in Anbar Province and Ramadi, and have even launched attacks in Abu Ghraib, on the outskirts of sprawling Baghdad. U.S. forces recently conducted helicopter missions to ease the threat that the militants might seize areas around the city’s international airport.
No one thinks the Islamic State has the wherewithal to take Baghdad, which would be fiercely defended by Shiite militias and what is left of the Iraqi army. But no one thinks that airstrikes alone will be enough to dislodge the Islamic State from the Iraqi territory it holds. “They’re winning and we’re not,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Sunday on CNN.
Obama urges patience
The Obama administration responds that its strategy will take time to implement. In Kerry’s words: “We expect, as we have said, there will be ups and downs.” But patience is justified only if there is a reasonable expectation that the myriad political obstacles barring the path toward success can be overcome. I’m not sure whether the president and his aides are guilty of optimism or self-delusion.
The situation in Kobane is illustrative. The border town is well within range of Turkish artillery, which could easily devastate the Islamic State’s battle formations. Yet the Turks do not fire — nor do they allow Turkish Kurds to cross the border and aid their Syrian brethren. They have, however, allowed thousands of Islamist fighters to pass through Turkey on their way to join the fight to overthrow Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. On Sunday, U.S. officials said the Turkish government had decided to allow the use of Incirlik air base for operations against the Islamic State. On Monday, Turkish officials told The Associated Press that no such decision had been made.
What’s with the Turks? They want the U.S.-led coalition’s goals to include Assad’s ouster. Specifically, they want the establishment of a buffer zone — which would be a no-fly zone for Assad’s aircraft — that can shelter refugees on the Syrian side of the border. But Susan Rice, Obama’s national security adviser, said Sunday that such a zone is not seen “as essential to the goal of degrading and ultimately destroying” the Islamic State.
In Iraq, the Islamic State will not be defeated as long as it has the support, or at least the acquiescence, of large segments of the nation’s Sunni minority. But this will not change as long as Sunnis view the jihadist militants as a bulwark against the Shiite majority and its sectarian militias.
Obama knew from the beginning that these — and other — problems in Iraq and Syria are essentially political and can’t be solved by military action alone.
So tell me again: What, exactly, do we think our bombs are accomplishing?