By Glenn Mollette
When I was a child I never got tired of watching the television program The Lone Ranger. He always rode in on his white horse Silver to save the day
Most Americans are sick and tired of watching the Middle East drama about Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Few Americans want to go to these God forsaken places and chance survival. Yet, already we have several hundred boots on the ground and we are sending more to organize Iraqi troops.
I am opposed to sending ground troops. Our pilots should be strapped with enough artillery in case they have to eject from a plane. They should have a chance to either shoot their way out if they have to parachute or take their own lives. I don't think any of our soldiers would want to be captured and beheaded. None of us want to see our troops beheaded on YouTube.
Most Americans are outraged by the recent execution of our journalists. We continue to mourn September 11, 2001. We remember what terrorists did to an unsuspecting America. We grieve with the families who lost so many on that horrific day. We don't want anything to happen like that again. Yet, few Americans are really emotionally ready to mount up and ride into the face of war.
I urge the President and Congress to work together and get the job done. However in this day and time that seems to be almost like asking the Sunnis and the Shias to work together. We messed up badly by going into Iraq. America did not make Iraq a better or safer place to live. Next, we messed up by thinking we could totally pull out and everything would be fine.
Are we going to mess up again? We need to unleash a fury of shock and awe against every ISIS stronghold in Iraq and Syria. However, where does America get another trillion dollars for this assault? Then, after we think we are done, will we be ready for the Middle East blowback that will come against us?
The Middle East has been plagued with tribal religious wars for thousands of years. America will never eliminate these wars. On the other side of the coin we can't let them cut off our citizen's heads while shaking a bloody knife at us.
ISISis a cancer. All sane, reasonable thinking countries in the world must work together to eliminate this malignancy. Our President has said other nations will be working with us in this effort. That's very vital. We cannot be The Lone Ranger
riding in on our white horse to save the day. Our horse is sick and tired of it all and lone rangers rarely succeed.
Glenn Mollette is an American columnist and author. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group, organization or
this publication.
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This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Mounting Silver to fight ISIS, Americans are sick of