Gadgetory

well less than four years after the withdrawal of American troops Iraq is once again descending into violence and chaos a breakaway faction of al Qaeda known as Isis has seized large swathes of northern Iraq and is marching toward Baghdad the Sunni insurgents say they want to establish an Islamic state that would span parts of Syria and northern Iraq the Iraqi government has reportedly requested air support from the United States but President Barack Obama has so far proceeded with caution ending the Iraq war has been a cornerstone of Obama's administration and he was running for office Obama campaign on the need to wind down the war I know there is no shortage of Patriots or patriotism what I do oppose is a dumb war in 2011 Obama announced the end of us combat operations in Iraq the last American troops left country by December Iraqis have taken full responsibility for their country's security it's difficult to quantify the cost of war numbers vary depending on how you count but a conservative measure says that more than one hundred and eighty nine thousand people have died in the fighting the hall of the mark 2003 invasion with a vast majority being civilians as for the financial toll that's an estimated at one point seven trillion dollars with several hundred billion more due to be paid in veterans care after eight years of war in Iraq and a longer one still winding down in Afghanistan Obama has been taking a more cautious approach to intervention overseas that's because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail because the costs associated with military action are so high you should expect every civilian leader and especially your commander-in-chief to be clear about how that awesome power should be used but then in June things in Iraq took a dramatic turn on jun 10th after days of fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or as it's better known Isis sees Mosul Iraq's second largest city Isis then took control of Tikrit hometown of Saddam Hussein and the Tal Afar when he took mazule the militants freed prisoners burned army vehicles and robbed banks of hundreds of millions of dollars in youtube videos Isis prompts to take over Baghdad this is President Obama days after Isis took the first two cities we will not be sending US troops back into combat in Iraq but I have asked my national security team to prepare a range of other options that could help support security forces and i'll be reviewing those options in the days ahead I do want to be clear though this is not solely or even primarily a military challenge at the time there were still about 200 American troops stationed in Iraq to guard the US Embassy in Baghdad according to The Wall Street Journal and this week Obama sent 275 soldiers to reinforce them the US has also sent an aircraft carrier and other warships into the Persian Gulf surveillance drones a man Navy aircraft have been reported flying over Iraq to gather intelligence and Obama is reportedly concerning drone strikes against Isis however given Obama's previous limited responses to conflicts in Libya and Syria it's unlikely that the president would turn to any of these options lightly at all American forces will not be returning to combat in Iraq but we will help Iraqis as they take the fight to terrorists who threaten the Iraqi people the region and American interests as well Obama has a handful of non-military options which could even include cooperation with longtime adversary Iran the US is continuing to push a rocky Prime Minister Maliki to implement more inclusive policies in Iraq failure to do so experts say made it easier for Isis to garner support among the disillusion Sunnis but even that may not be enough to save a rock and chaos since his days as a senator Obama has spoken about the need for less military intervention abroad but as a rock teetered on the brink of sectarian war he's fighting himself reluctantly returning to the country the question he faces now is how to stabilize the country without getting pulled back into a conflict has already proved so costly in lives and money you