The ISIS engineered terrorist attack in Paris has only increased western emotions and support for war in Iraq and Syria. Hastily acting on those emotions may only further worsen this horrible situation.
The main reason behind why ISIS is making these attacks is that they believe America and the Western world already infringes on their privacy and enforces Western beliefs with force. A western military presence near or in the ISIS “caliphate” would only legitimize their claims.
If ISIS’ claims were proved to be even somewhat valid, this could lead to an increase in support for the radical group. More support could lead to even more attacks because the group would expand into other areas. The group is already expanding around the world and as the group expands and becomes more powerful, threats and public outrage have increased. Furthermore, as public outrage increases, so does awareness for the group.
If the United States stayed out of ISIS’ territories, there would still be other countries fighting ISIS’ forces and ISIS wouldn’t be able to blame their attacks on the United States. That would make the United States less of a target and could prove to lessen the fears of the United States’ citizens. Daniel J. Gallington of U.S. News believes even if we did hypothetically win in the Middle East against the terrorist groups, that the country that assumes control could also hate the U.S., resulting in another possible enemy for the U.S. With American troops in the ISIS occupied area, there is just an endless cycle of fear for the United States people.
The United States has been policing the world since the Monroe Doctrine and they’ve always taken the country’s side that they agree with. But, since 9/11 the United States’ government hasn’t been able to calm the fears of another attack on American soil. The United States should focus on their own domestic security before invading the Middle East another time. With accomplices in America, ISIS has a presence in the United States and could create another disaster easily. However, if these people were found by the United States government, then the U.S. could remove the domestic terrorist threat.
ISIS has hinted at an attack inside of the U.S. and it seems imminent. Killing one leader or taking out one section won’t cripple or scare ISIS. What will scare them is if they take away their ability to strike fear in people. When the U.S. government reacts, this leads to people thinking that ISIS is an even larger problem and then people start reacting even more.
Also, countless lives are assured to be lost with troops “on the ground.” How would a soldier’s life matter less than a civilian? In the end we should be trying to protect everyone with our response and not ignore the fact that anyone who goes near ISIS’ homeland has an increased chance of death.
Entering another Middle East conflict would be another disaster, just like all of the United States’ previous encounters there. All of the United States’ Middle East conflicts have resulted in numerous deaths and a large increase in debt. This would prove to be a very dangerous situation to be in financially, too, with the United States already in crippling debt. However, past national security improvements have proven to be more financially responsible and some have even improved the economy by adding more jobs within the United States.