The attacks in Paris demonstrate that it’s time for the U.S. to step up its involvement in the Middle East, including deploying more U.S. troops, national security experts told the Washington Examiner the day after a wave of violence killed more than 100 people.
James Carafano, an analyst with the Heritage Foundation, said the key to eliminating the Islamic State’s ability to conduct international attacks is to break its caliphate in Iraq, something that will require U.S. ground combat troops.
“I don’t think the Kurds are going to do it. You look across the Middle East, no one has capacity to do that,” he said. “Unless you put Western forces back in, there’s no answer to this. Otherwise you’re just going to be playing whack-a-mole.”
Michael O’Hanlon, an analyst with the Brookings Institution, said the string of attacks perpetrated by the Islamic State “makes the case more than ever” for a revised U.S. strategy in Iraq and Syria.
O’Hanlon said the U.S. should increase the number of trainers and do more special operations forces raids with U.S. and local ground troops “on a larger scale.” He also called for the establishment of no-fly zones and a new political vision for the future of Syria that is more realistic.
One analyst argued that the solution is bigger than changes in strategy. Instead, the change in U.S. commitment requires Washington “to actually have a strategy,” writes Danielle Pletka, an analyst with the American Enterprise Institute.
“Stepping up airstrikes, dumping more Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) into the hands of our putative allies, sending in 20 more special forces troops, and mouthing platitudes are not pathways to victory,” she writes.
“The first step is to actually have a strategy, rather than a series of reactive tactics and incremental escalations that are nothing more than a lagging indicator of the trouble on the ground. That is the job of the commander in chief, and he does not seem game for it,” she continues.
She also called on the administration to form a coalition with allies that Washington trusts and to focus on militarily ending to the conflict, which can lead to long-term political stability, not vice versa.
President Obama said Friday that the Islamic State was contained after a string of recent successes in pushing back the terrorist group, including local forces retaking Mount Sinjar In Iraq and an airstrike likely killing “Jihadi John,” a British national who was a galvanizing figure for the Islamic State.
Six near-simultaneous attacks throughout Paris on Friday afternoon have killed more than 100 people and injured many others, including some Americans. The terrorists targeted restaurants, a concert hall where an American band was performing and a stadium where French President Francois Hollande was attending a soccer game.
Hollande said the Islamic State was behind the act of terrorism. The group later claimed credit in a message posted online.
“We are going to lead a war which will be pitiless,” Hollande said Saturday morning, according to reports.
“Because when terrorists are capable of committing such atrocities, they must be certain that they are facing a determined France, a united France, a France that is together and does not let itself be moved, even if today we express infinite sorrow,” Hollande added.
It’s unclear how this attack will change the French strategy or committment of resources to the fight against the Islamic State. France joined the coalition against the terrorist group late, launching the first airstrikes in Syria in September, Time reported.
Nathalie Goulet, a member of the French Senate, said on CNN Saturday that she didn’t expect France to commit a ground force in Syria as a result of the attacks.
After the Paris attack, the White House reportedly clarified that it meant the terrorist group was contained only on the battleground in Iraq and Syria.
Obama will meet with the National Security Council on Saturday to discuss the latest intelligence on the Paris attack before leaving for the G20 Summit in Turkey.
