Not exactly, but the U.S. is using great discretion because of the propaganda value to the Islamic State when air strikes kill civilians.
Washington may still be wedded to thinking of the Islamic State as a second-rate threat that only needs tactics, not a strategy, to defeat it.
Intervention may not be the answer, but the damage that the Islamic State wreaks on the regions it rules requires immediate action.
The Islamic State is less a product of Islamist extremism than the legacy of Saddam Hussein.
The regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may not be as close to the brink as reported.
Except that in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s world both sides of the sword are death dealing.
The Islamic State’s real battle is against the Middle-East’s illegitimate regimes, not the West.
The Islamic State’s initial attempts at governing have been disrupted by Western airstrikes.
While reports of Ebola in the Islamic State have yet to be confirmed, an outbreak would not only present a crisis but opportunities for both it and the West.
Glossing over the Islamic State’s ultraviolence doesn’t help to make the case for non-intervention.