Six miles from NATO

 

 

"Our NATO mutual defense treaty will no longer allow us to be mild participants should ISIL attack Turkey. We will be in this thing knee deep..."

With the fall of Kobane seemingly immanent, ISIL will be situated only six miles from Turkey. In other words, ISIL will be only six miles from NATO. Since Turkey is still a member of NATO, they are protected by the NATO treaty umbrella. An attack on one member or NATO involves all members of NATO.

How close is Kobane to falling into enemy hands? General Dempsey was on the news this morning to address that issue. In his words, "It could be very soon, maybe as soon as today." Why is this important? Most people had never even heard of this town before last week.

Kobane is important for a number of reasons:

• As mentioned before, ISIL takes no prisoners. Some human right observers believe the fall of Kobane will result in the largest blood baths of the war. In this new war zone, beheadings have become the common and preferred method of execution for men, women, children and babies.
• The number of ISIL fighters grows larger with every success they have. They are not only growing organically, they are also growing from absorbing other fringe Islamic fighters. Some say their number is now up to 40,000.
• Our response to help the Kurds continues to be tepid. In the past six months, we have conducted only 400 sorties over Iraq and Syria. During the Gulf War, the coalition conducted as many as 100 sorties a day. As brave and ferocious as the Kurds are, they are no match for a growing and well equipped ISIL army.
• The fall of Kobane will put the enemy only six miles from Turkey. Even though Turkey has not been much help so far in this war, the NATO mutual defense obligations will have us involved much deeper if there are incursions by ISIL into Turkey's territory.

We must remember what the Levant in ISIL stands for. It is an ancient landmass of which ISIL is trying to capture during this caliphate. Southern Turkey is part of the Levant. So is Cyprus. So is Israel. Whether Assad wants to admit it or not, Syria has already fallen.

We can watch this group grow bigger and more ruthless every week until they become a juggernaut in the Middle East. Or we can decide enough is enough. Treat these people like the enemy they have become. Show no quarter, allow no mercy. Reinstate the Collin Powell method of war fighting. Overwhelming force. Shock and Awe. Beat them until they don't wiggle anymore.

History is being written right now. How we react to this group before winter arrives is critical. We cannot keep turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to what is happening in Syria and Iraq right now. Mister President, we need more Ronald Reagan and a lot less Nevil Chamberlain. Today, war with all it's horrors, is taking place over there. Tomorrow, the same war, the same horrors, could be here. It is time to put on big boy pants and take care of the bully.