Has our national commitment lessened over the years to destroy the evils of this world? It would seem so, as the President and Congress seem to be having a problem with committing ground forces to fight ISIS or as they call them ISIL. Yes we have used air power to attack them in Syria, but never have we confronted this group on the ground. We have used surrogates, such as the Kurds, to fight them for us.

While we talk to other nations about the threat ISIS poses and supply weapons to those directly fighting ISIS, we seem to have gotten extremely hesitant to commit ground troops to fight them. Even the French, British and other nations that have been subjected to terrorist attacks by ISIS cells seem unable to invest the use of their own troops to confront these terrorists on their own ground. These governments will and have used their air forces to attack ISIS and yet they have not stopped them using air power. The idea that by using a surrogate force and air power to fight ISIS seems to be very popular; at least it is politically popular the world over.

The use of air power is a very useful and a good way to inflict damage to one’s enemies; it can not alone destroy or even stop them totally from advancing on the ground. This has been proven during World Wars I and II, the Korean conflict and Vietnam. Bombing from the air only can do so much and it must be followed up by a ground based attack.

I know that we and other nations that would put forces on the ground directly against ISIS would most definitely suffer more casualties than by just using our air force. While the public will to fight is strong, it has become popular to think that others should do the dirty work of confronting ISIS on the ground. Too many people want to hide from the facts and never seem to realize that they are helping ISIS. We as a nation have a long history of talking the talk and yet not backing it up with the necessary military force. Just think about that for a moment, what if we had joined the British and French in fighting against Hitler’s Germany before Pearl Harbor? Hitler would have been stopped very quickly and much suffering would have been avoided.

Too many people think that all conflicts can be resolved by talking and yet there does come a time when force is necessary. Unfortunately we as a society have become stuck in our way of thinking. Some of us do not seem to realize that there is a time for talking and a time for doing. It is now the time for doing! We must put troops on the ground to stop ISIS now before it gets worse.

No one will be safe if we stand by and just use platitudes when talking to ISIS. Making war is not something that should be done on the spur of the moment, but after due consideration. That time has come!

That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike