Article Response #3 - Obama and the United States' Responses to Global Crisises

As I have discussed in my last two blog posts, the situation in the Middle East with the Islamic State Militant organization (ISIS) has increasingly risen in tension over the past few weeks. Largely due to the publicly released video by ISIS of the beheadings of two kidnapped American journalists (and the threat of more to come), the United States' government has made strong statements about the zero tolerance that the U.S. has for these terrorist acts and that they will 'degrade and destroy' ISIS. President Obama and his Administration have used powerful language and direct statements toward ISIS that the U.S. and U.S. Military will not back down and will "open the gates of hell" for these terrorists. 

I voiced last week that although President Obama made clear that the United States would not be dragged into another combat war in Iraq, he also made it clear during his first election in 2008 that he was in strong opposition of the initial 2003 invasion of Iraq and wanted to pull out all U.S. troops out of Iraq. 

Now, in the middle of his second term in 2014, he is deploying more American troops to Iraq. President Obama is aware of the American public's concern over this issue, and this week he reassured in a speech to soldiers at the MacDill Air Force Base that he "would not commit to fighting another ground war in Iraq." 

Although, President Obama also stated that the United States has "'unique abilities' to respond to IS." These "unique abilities" include, according to Obama, armed forces that are "unparalleled" which means when there is a "big problem somewhere around in the world, it falls on our shoulders." 

This state of mind is shared by many Americans and has been shared by many presidents past and present. It is this American elitist thinking that has allowed America to retain its position as an global superpower as well as an international target of hatred. 

At the same time of this current battle against ISIS in the MIddle East, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is an additional global security threat that the Obama Administration feels a sense of responsibility to act on. President Obama has promised 3,000 American troops to "help build treatment centers and train thousands of medical staff." Although these soldiers are being sent for undoubtedly humanitarian efforts, there is still criticisms domestically about the troops putting themselves at risk to catch the virus. 

Without question, these countries are in need and their struggles could have internationally repercussions. However, because of the costs and risks, it seems there is no route the Obama Administration can take that will appease everyone. 

Sources: 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29235083

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29231400