In a televised address to the American public Wednesday, President Obama laid out plans for using military force to destroy the ISIS terrorist network. Here are the arguments for and against U.S. intervention in Iraq and Syria:
The Case For Intervention
Keeps the rust off the ol’ war machine
Helps bring stability to Assad regime
Obama says ISIS is like a cancer, and we all know cancer is bad
Great chance to win those last few Iraqi hearts and minds we didn’t quite get to during last campaign
Beacon of freedom, moral high ground, all that shit
It’s already happening, so just go with it
The Case Against Intervention
Could set negative precedent of engaging in armed conflict without official congressional approval
Recklessly marches nation into war before trade and tourism sanctions can have any effect
Just going to have to do it all over again in six years, 13 years, 17 years, and 21 years anyway
Means U.S. government is publicly flip-flopping on whether Syrian civilians’ lives have any value
Pretty much guaranteed to cut off diplomatic relations with eventual Islamic State of Iraq
Not going to work
