Responding to my Colleague Blog Post #6

Here I would like to respond to a colleague of mine in one of his blog posts concerning the Islamic State problem, which you can read here Insight on the U.S. Government

So personally I find a lot agree and disagree with. I partially agree that we should be more aggressive towards the Islamic State. I wholeheartedly agree that there is something that should be done to stop and eliminate the Islamic State. However, I do have some concerns regarding on how that should be accomplished.

First off, he is absolutely correct when he says that the Islamic State arose out of the power vacuum that was left behind when we, America, destabilized the region when we brought down the Iraqi government. And while the idea crippling the Islamic State to the point where an opposing group takes over sound appealing, I don't think that that would solve the problem. My biggest concern is that new group that takes over becoming "Islamic State 2.0". I think the best solution would be having an already established government (as terrible as it sounds, Iran or Turkey might be the best one to fill this role) to take control. I say this because as an already established government fills power gaps nicely. One of the reasons I support Russia in the backing of Syria in the Syrian Civil War is NOT because I am in favor of the Syrian Regime (I absolutely loathe the Syrian Regime), but because I believe they are our best bet in securing any type of stability in the region.

Ideally, I would prefer one of the pro-west rebel groups to take control of Syria and spread democracy, but unfortunately there is just so way of saying for sure that they would be able to stay in control and not fall to terrorist group who then would take control. In the case of the Islamic State, I think backing another neighboring country (through air strikes, but not send any money or supplies) in an invasion of the Islamic State territory and then letting them control the new region is the way to handle the situation. I wouldn't suggest giving the territory back to Iraq, as I personally don't think Iraq would be ready to be able to stop another group like the Islamic State from rising up in the hole that the Islamic State would leave behind.

But as my colleague says, America needs the support from countries in the region if there is to be any hope of stopping the Islamic State.