English: Iraq–Syria locator map for bilateral relations. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is an important lead article from the Economist. Check it out!
via Iraq, Syria and jihadism: The will and the way | The Economist.
Once again, this article highlights that President Obama has not done his homework. He only listens to public opinion and a kitchen cabinet of “yes” people. For me, Obama’s vision of the Middle East since taking office was based on prejudice and bias. It’s his misguided views on political Islam that have created this mess. This blog focuses on strategy and is particularly critical of Obama’s “so-called” strategy. Obama went from “no strategy” to “strategy for defeating ISIS” but no where is there an effective foreign policy and military policy for addressing the political, social and economic crisis in the Middle East – this crisis was precipitated when Obama prematurely withdrew US troops from Iraq. Whilst I am no supporter of Turkey’s leadership nor many of her policies, at least, Turkey is trying to force Obama to declare a cohesive strategy.
I worry that both Obama and Kerry are completely out of their depth. On the one hand, there is a risk of terrorists becoming a World force, including securing weapons of mass destruction. On the other hand, there is the risk of provoking World War III.
Overall, the problem is caused by Obama’s weakness and biased judgement. He’s weak in the eyes of the Islamists to whom he has been trying to reach out. On the global scale, Russia, China and Iran are all feeding off Obama’s weakness, creating new geopolitical tensions. Also Obama has turned on the US’s only true ally in the Middle East, namely Israel.
It looks like Kobani has been abandoned by the US & Turkey to ISIS. History will judge both countries harshly for the loss of more Kurdish blood.
Thoughts?
Dr Alf's Blog 
Dr Alf is right, President Obama has no coherent strategy for the Middle East nor for anywhere else.
Having gone into Iraq, he should have left enough troops there by a process of rotation, just as troops are still in Germany, some 79 years after the end of hostilities in Europe even though they have not been needed there for years.
The deeper problem of militant Islam, of which ISIS is just one manifestation, ought to be of concern to us all.
No other religion calls for Jihad and the imposition of Sharia Law and no other religion insists on effectively creating a state within a state with more rights afforded to them than are enjoyed by the host population.
Then there is the question of numbers; Muslims have high rates of family formation and marry earlier than most host populations, so there is a practical issue to be addressed there, as well that no amount of politically correct talk can wish away.
With ISIS, the full weight of the American military needs to be unleashed so that this contagion can be eliminated rapidly—There is no need for a long slog of 30 years as David Cameron has suggested IF we take severe action now.
President Obama has the means to intern Jihadists and the means to dispach them and he has the means to overthrow the rogue regimes in Saudi Arabia and Qatar who are funding ISIS, the Wahibi sects, responsible for global acts of terror, probably including 9/11, as per the 28 pages of the report on 9/11 which still remain redacted and which President Obama refuses unsurprisingly to see the light of day.
As for Turkey, under Erdogan, they are playing a double game, using their hospitals to treat ISIS fighters and letting their military sit idly by while cities, like Kobani, are put to the sword.
ISIS and their paymasters want a GLOBAL CALIPHATE so it is a case of deal with all of them now or have trouble in the future.
Obama is not up to the job, nor is David Cameron and most of our mentally and morally deficient leaders.
Either they raise their game, create an effective global coalition, including Israel, to deal with ISIS and all manifestations of militant Islam, or in the last analysis, we are going to have to root out the Frankenstein in our midst in the months and years to come, street by street, and mosque by mosque.