"Ending the War in Iraq and Syria; the Common Sense Strategy" by Jeff Faux

One of the highlights of the year is the annual Global Justice lecture by economist Jeff Faux. He is author of The Servant Economy and Global Class War. This year he turns his critical eye to the Middle East and the quagmire the U.S. finds itself in. Most of the President's critics are urging him to do more of what he is already doing: aerial bombing, arms and money to presumed "moderates" to fight both ISIS and the Assad government in Syria, and pleas to our allies to do more. Hillary Clinton wants to add a no-fly zone in a slice of northern Syria. Most agree that the boots on the ground should be someone else's. Yet slowly but surely the President is caving in to the pressures to re-escalate. Washington is unwilling to face an inconvenient truth: the war is lost. The longer we persist, the more enemies we will make and the more blood and treasure we will spill. The 12-year war has already cost upwards of $2 trillion, killed a million people – 4500 of them Americans – and created several million homeless and destitute refugees. The violence and disorder has spread throughout the region, spilled over to Africa, struck at the heart of Europe, and brought homegrown terrorist attacks to the United States. And there is no end in sight. We cannot ultimately win this war for the same reason we could not win the Viet Nam War; we are unpopular occupiers, successors to British and French colonialists, demanding that they allow us to remake their culture in our image and to control their oil. Thus, ISIS needs us. Without the American presence, it loses its ability to market itself as the Islamic champion against the Western neo-crusaders. Faux argues that America needs an Anti-War Movement. The first step is an Anti-War Argument. Come join the discussion of this vital issue.