Iraq or The Islamic State - A Failure of Action

So it has happened. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria/Levant has done something which never was done before. It has created a new nation-state for itself in what was once part of the Ottoman Empire without the influence of any European country. The new entity is known as a The Islamic State.

Trust me, this is nor a celebration by any means. Instead, I am more afraid that this splintered, rogue group no longer affiliated with al-Qaeda, is able sustain itself, with a strong governing body,  provide essential services to the people and implement sixteenth century justice to those who don't comply.

In addition, it controls about a third of Syria and perhaps just about half of the land mass of Iraq. It also controls Mosul and Tikrit, areas and cities where American soldiers were injured or who died trying to secure these areas for the current government of Iraq.

The entire story is chronicled in the late edition of Sunday's USA Today.

At this point, Prime Minister al-Maliki has lost the faith of the people to provide security or essential services. I, along with many other Americans and Iraqis, are forced to agree with President Obama that al-Maliki needs to go, the quicker the better, to allow for a  new government to form and be put into place before the country no longer  exists.

The Iraq that we shed American men and women's blood to save and re-establish, and the trillions of dollars to try to support that endeavor, will never be the same. It has collapsed into a modern day Civil War, where brother is fighting brother, father is shooting at son and the United States is once again, like Vietnam, is involving itself into a no-win situation.

We can sit here and say we were wrong to leave in 2011. I agree with that assessment.  But the fact is, we did and repeating it over again will not change that reality. Instead, we must figure out, as much as we have lost our will to fight, how we can best resolve this with minimal to escalation toward 2003 levels.

And soon.

In the final analysis, as I said in my commentary of June 17 called The Obama-Iraqi Legacy , "But, Barry, the clock is ticking and the time is growing short. I am thinking you have until the July 4th weekend, if that much time, before Iraq comes crashing down and destroys your presidency. That's less than three weeks."

Now we are down to four days, at best. The ISIL is consolidating its grip on the lifeline of Iraq, while Obama and Kerry are dancing the time away.

President Bush's Iraq Legacy, among other things good and bad, was eliminating the tyrannical Saddam Hussein. At the time, it seemed like a good thing. After all, the people celebrated his abdication and subsequent execution. 

President Obama's Iraq Legacy will be equally good and bad. But he will long be remembered for allowing a democratically elected government fall to the most despicable elements of Islam. Then, Iraq will become the hotbed of jihadist terrorism, spreading fear to its immediate Arabic neighbors, as well as, to countries far and wide.

For that, our efforts, the permanent injuries to our veterans and the deaths of over 3,500 brave American men and women will be in vain.