Brent Scowcroft Center Senior Adviser Harlan Ullman writes for UPI on US strategy for combating the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham:
Make no mistake. On the current trajectory, the United States is losing the war against the Islamic State and the reasons why are clear.Most telling are the White House’s use of minimal means in waging this war while seemingly assuming full responsibility for its conduct; and failure to make the case that the threat posed by IS extends far beyond Iraq and Syria.
Ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq made returning to the latter difficult. The White House has declared it will not deploy U.S. ground forces to defeat IS. As a result, President Barack Obama seems driven more by ambivalence and not the decisiveness, resolve and determination necessary for success.