Why Is America Losing Faith With Our Strategy Against ISIS? Three Key Factors Explain The Public's Growing Lack Of Confidence

2015-11-24T22:33:33-05:00

The American public is rapidly losing confidence in our Nation's ability to combat ISIS and it comes down to three key factors: perception, cooked books, and the reality on the ground. BLUF: The public perception is that ISIS is growing in strength and influence despite what the Administration keeps telling us. Whenever we hear about our effectiveness in combating ISIS, we learn months later that the estimates and figures fed to us were grossly inflated. Lastly, it's hard to dispute the reality on the ground, with things like an international refugee crisis in Europe, bloody attacks in Paris, and the downing of a Russian passenger liner. The question remains, what can and must we do if the public is to regain confidence in our fight against ISIS? Is it even possible, or must it now wait until a new Administration takes office in 2016? What say you, RP Nation? Is this a winnable fight?

3 Reasons Americans Are Losing Confidence in Obama’s Fight Against ISIS

In the wake of the ISIS attacks in Paris, President Obama and his efforts to defeat the extremist group have come under withering criticism in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail, including some by members of his own party.

Response by Col Kyle Taylor made Nov 24 at 2015 10:37 PM

2015-11-24T22:37:09-05:00

Perhaps it is the lack of understanding of how the desired end state will be achieved with the resources provided under current guidance and plans...

Response by SCPO Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 24 at 2015 10:48 PM

2015-11-24T22:48:05-05:00

Excuse me, but at least five high-ranking adminstration people have distinctly said for the world to hear that "we have no strategy." Obummer, Biden, Kerry, Carter, and Earnest. Americans have NO faith in these people and scores more, not in a non-existent strategy.

Response by LCpl Mark Lefler made Nov 24 at 2015 11:21 PM

2015-11-24T23:21:42-05:00

We'd have to kill absolutely every person with ISIS's ideology to truely win. Terrorism is the "poor man's" way to wage war, ISIS knows they could never win a force on force confrontation. so they spread out and do something here and something there... its like herding cats.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 25 at 2015 12:16 AM

2015-11-25T00:16:22-05:00

The public has lost confidence?
I have lost confidence.
It is painfully apparent to me that the powers-that-be have absolutely no interest in committing the resources to be decisively engaged. They are simply trying to hold serve until it becomes the next administration's problem.

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 25 at 2015 6:12 AM

2015-11-25T06:12:29-05:00

All these airstrikes and to what result? I am sure the effect has been dire on ISIS but we don't release body counts. The second ISIS attacks Paris, we get a count (updated by the hour) on the number of killed and injured.
The public has no idea of what we are actually doing to combat the enemy outside of 'more airstrikes today'.

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 25 at 2015 7:59 AM

2015-11-25T07:59:18-05:00

The truth is ... this is all planned. This administration wanted someone to raise and overthrown Assad, and believe that we can control "it" until the job "well done". but things get out of hand, arms that we ship out are given to the "right" person, but we just don't realize there isn't any "right" choice at all ....

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 25 at 2015 2:19 PM

2015-11-25T14:19:02-05:00

American public gets scared so easy. Defeat ISIS? You can never defeat ISIS. There will always be these terror organizations either in the Middle East and in Africa (that we haven't even spoke about). They just strike here and there. How about those middle eastern countries fight ISIS. We already sacrificed thousands of young Soldiers in Iraq for nothing.

Response by CPO Greg Frazho made Nov 25 at 2015 10:40 PM

2015-11-25T22:40:26-05:00

This is almost a rhetorical question: Why Is America losing faith with our strategy against ISIS? In short, because there isn't one. And if there is, it, like so much else in our country nowadays, it's a fucking joke. That's how far out of touch our leadership and our sense of reality is. Seven years of complete incompetence and fecklessness across nearly every sector of concern. Arguably, foreign policy, again, not that we have one, is among the worst. For the record, I never had faith in Operation Inherent Resolve. In fact, I referred to it as Inherently Flawed. I stand by that sentiment. Having this Administration formulate policy, such as it is, on anything at all is a recipe for disaster.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Nov 26 at 2015 2:26 PM

2015-11-26T14:26:34-05:00

We have coaches (leaders) who coach down our military.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Nov 27 at 2015 1:38 PM

2015-11-27T13:38:07-05:00

I think the leadership of this country does not want the responsibility of making hard military decisions.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 27 at 2015 1:46 PM

2015-11-27T13:46:07-05:00

For a lot of us, our faith was lost when the State Department failed to negotiate a status of forces agreement that would have allowed us to keep troops in Iraq. We knew at that moment that Iraq was doomed.

Response by Lt Col Stephen Petzold made Nov 28 at 2015 12:39 AM

2015-11-28T00:39:21-05:00

Because we have no strategy. ISIS is only annoying for Obama because it interferes with his desire to just change things domestically. Thus he has not worked out any desired end state nor a strategy to get there.

You are not going to destroy ISIS by bombing them. You can degrade their capabilities and make them have a bad day, but to really destroy them someone has to go in on the ground. Obama has said we will not, at least in any major way. We are busy dispersing all the moderate Syrians to the four corners of the globe, so they are not going to be fighting to get their country back. So in Syria that just leaves Assad or Al Quada. In Iraq you have the Kurds, but Obama will not arm them directly, only through the corrupt Iraqi government. So I guess that just leaves Russia or the Europeans.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Nov 28 at 2015 3:43 PM

2015-11-28T15:43:38-05:00

The situation looks worse as France and Russia joined the fray, and Syria is going up in smoke.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 28 at 2015 4:31 PM

2015-11-28T16:31:28-05:00

Is it a winnable fight? Yes, but we have to look at the results we're getting with current methods and evaluate if there is a better method which will achieve better results.

What can and must we do if the public is to regain confidence in our fight against ISIS? We (our administration) needs to tell the truth and stop shooting itself in the foot. It needs to stop giving us ROE that keep us from winning.

Response by PO3 Michael James made Nov 28 at 2015 6:44 PM

2015-11-28T18:44:11-05:00

MAJ Hoiland, Sir; I feel its the lack of leadership in Washington.. Congress fights itself.. Then they fight with the President ?? just who is minding the store ??? Americans are tired.. This administration is not helping...

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Nov 29 at 2015 1:50 PM

2015-11-29T13:50:13-05:00

We have a CIC who prefers to fight a war of attrition and is so "politically correct" he won't say Muslim Terrorists, and the war in Iraq and Syria are not getting smaller.