France Joins the US in the Effort to Destroy ISIS

       In an effort to destroy the terrorist group ISIS, France has conducted their first air strike according to president Francois Hollande.  The French president states that planes have attacked an IS logistics depot in north-east Iraq.  According to Hollande, there will be many more in the near future.  However, France is far from alone in this effort, the US has carried out more than 170 air strikes against the group in search of caliphate since mid-August.  In what seems to be strange change of personality for the French president who is somewhat of a socialist, he has committed his military to interventions in Mali, Central African Republic and most recently Iraq.  The French government, much like that of the US, has restricted the ISIS targets to air strikes and that there will be no French troops involved in ground combat.  

Hollande has approved the request by the French Military
to conduct air strikes in Iraq

       ISIS has claimed dozens of cities and towns in Iraq and Syria, and this is where the two plans differ.  Hollande has chosen to restrict his actions to Iraq, however Obama has stated an aim of degrading and disrupting ISIS activities in Syria as well.   For many weeks, France has been flying reconnaissance fights over Iraq and providing Kurdish fighters on the ground with weapons.  On Monday, France held a conference which saw 26 countries pledge their commitment to supporting the fight against ISIS.  Also, on Thursday, the US Senate approved Obama's plan to equip and train moderate Syrian rebels to fight against ISIS.  This comes as a result of neither France or the United States conducting air strikes in Syria.  

       Ain al-Arab has been besieged by ISIS.  He said that the ISIS terrorists should be "hit and destroyed wherever they are".  I completely agree with this statement, but it comes at such a time when many countries are not willing to invest in ground personnel in the conflict.  For example, the United States military is only conducting air strikes in Iraq to combat ISIS, however they are training and equipping many Syrian rebels.  Many claim that air strikes are the new age of war, however if the US Forces still would like ground presence in Syria, I do not believe that arming rebels is the way to deal with this problem.  Similarly, the French, British and Germans have all armed the Kurds in Northern Iraq.  This may be partially due to the general disapproval of the US's invasion of Iraq in 2003, however I believe that it is not proper to arm another group of rebels when you are trying to combat an opposing group of rebels.  I think these countries should only conduct air strikes or intervene on the ground with their own respective forces.

 William Deo

Adapted From: 
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/14/world/meast/isis-coalition-nations/index.html?iref=allsearch