OPINION:
President Obama’s recent decision to send an additional 1,500 U.S. personnel to Iraq “in a non-combat role, to expand our training effort for Iraqi forces” is more of the same tactic that has plagued military operations for decades: chasing the violence, one small step at a time, rather than getting ahead of the violence and shutting it down.
The situation is serious and the threat is real. ISIS forces control approximately one-third of both Iraq and Syria, where they are notorious for their barbarity. They are at Baghdad’s doorstep and have ambitions for Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. They have called for attacks against Americans and our allies.
We’ve been down this road before, cautiously dribbling in the bare minimum of U.S. forces over time—while at the same time tying their hands with restrictive Rules of Engagement (ROE). The advisory effort in Vietnam crept along starting with President Truman until the South Vietnamese government was so threatened that President Johnson, over a decade later, had to order a massive escalation.
In 2005 and 2006, the U.S. allowed Iraq to descend into full blown civil war before implementing a change in leadership and strategy, including a surge of American forces. The surge was politically unpopular, even among members of
former President Bush’s own party, but the President was flexible and bold enough to make the critical changes that pulled Iraq back from the brink.
I witnessed the same mistakes during multiple tours in Afghanistan as a Special Forces officer, when our paucity of troops and advisors with the Afghan army led to Taliban gains and exploding violence. The problem was exacerbated by restrictive caveats on what our forces could do—from limitations on the types of airstrikes we could conduct to an excessive bureaucracy limiting our ability to conduct offensive operations.
By 2009, a number of experts and generals declared the war had been fought to a tie. Once again, it took a surge of American forces to quell the violence and allow the Afghan government to make its first ever political transition. That surge also allowed continued growth of the Afghan army and police to a point where they could stand with less and less U.S. advisory support (though now is
not the time to abandon Afghanistan either.)
The chief advantage that ISIS enjoys today is its aura of invincibility. So long as ISIS appears to have the upper hand, they will continue to recruit members and gain strength, no matter how many members we target from the air. This perception must be changed. And the longer we wait, the more difficult and costly it will be.
First, we must jump start the Iraqi Army, the Kurdish Peshmerga, and Free Syrian Army (FSA). To do this right will require more than the 2,900 forces currently authorized. We’re not calling for a large infusion of forces, not entire divisions of U.S. infantry. Rather, what’s needed is a significant infusion of Special Forces, both the “train and equip” kind, and the kind that will hunt down ISIS
leadership in the dead of the night.
At the same time, in order to get ahead of the ISIS threat, we must not limit American forces to training. American Special Forces should serve as combat advisors and accompany the Iraqi Army, the Kurds, and FSA on their missions against ISIS to make them more effective. Experience has shown that training them for a few months and waving goodbye at the front gate won’t do it, no matter how many trainers we send.
President Obama’s current strategy sends a message that he is paying attention to the atrocities committed by ISIS—and that he’s hoping his result will be different from the results history provides for every other similar strategy, already taken and failed in the past. History shows that to be a recipe for stalemate at best, and a guarantee that he or his successor will have to make a costlier commitment down the road.
There is still time to change the strategy. The recent U.S. election will usher in a more security-minded Congress, from whom Obama has requested $5.6 billion to fund his efforts against ISIS. Now is the time for Obama to take the steps necessary to get in front of ISIS rather than repeating the past and chasing the violence in Iraq.
Michael G. Waltz, a former Green Beret, is the author of the forthcoming book, “Warrior Diplomat: A Green Beret’s Battles from Washington to Afghanistan”
and the Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation, as well as the Co-Founder
of and a Principal in Askari Associates.
Lorianne Moss is a former U.S. Senate foreign policy aide and
legislative director.
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