OPINION:
If the Islamic State had been hit when it first went into Iraq, thousands of innocent lives would have been spared and the strength of the terrorist group would have been destroyed.
Some say air power alone cannot be the cure, but in some cases it can. When the Islamic State departed Syria and went into Iraq, it was invading another country and was fair game for airstrikes — especially since Iraq was the country we had just bolted from. With the terrorists strung out in open country, unless all of the B-52s, B-1s and B-2 stealth bombers had been grounded, we could have smashed them.
Toward the end of the first Gulf War, air power was decimating Saddam Hussein’s forces so badly that Gen. Colin L. Powell convinced President George H.W. Bush to cease the attacks because they looked so bad on TV. With recent history proving it can be done if action is taken, and 1930s and ’40s European history proving what can happen when nobody stands up to evil, why is this country still in inaction mode? Some keep pushing the “Americans are tired of war” excuse, and that is probably true. So why are taking a course that will ensure prolonged armed conflict when we could have stopped these terrorists in the beginning?
Now the Islamic State, like Hamas, is hiding among the innocent in urban areas where air power is limited. Is all of this U.S. inaction by plan or accident? Is it a result of incompetence or disregard? Probably all of the above.
RON WOOTTERS
Lambertville, N.J.
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