Ever since the disaster on September 11th, 2001, the United States has formed the goal of defeating the terrorist threats over in the Middle East and parts of Africa. The U.S. has continually shut down terrorist threats by sending in ground soldiers ever since George W. Bush started his war on terrorism. As the U.S. pulled out a lot of soldiers from the Middle East, terrorist threats began to rise again. One terrorist organization that has risen into global prominence is the Islamic State (I.S.). The I.S. has shown that it's more threatening and dangerous than past terrorist groups due to its ability to take land in Iraq and Syria and it has committed deadly attacks in major European cities and throughout the Middle East daily. To combat the I.S., Barack Obama has refused to send more soldiers to the Middle East than the 3,000 currently there. Instead he has continued to orchestrate bombing runs on I.S. occupied land instead of committing to a fight on the ground. With all the continued attacks in the Middle East and Europe, and the threats against the U.S., the bombing runs have done nothing to stop the I.S. The U.S. needs to send a full force of ground soldiers to Iraq and Syria because the I.S. will not stop attacking Middle Eastern and European cities and possibly U.S. cities in the future as long as the U.S. is only bombing the I.S. The U.S. needs to start a fight on the ground if they truly want to shut down the global threat that is the I.S.

The roots of the I.S. date back all the way to 2004 when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who pledged his allegiance to Osama Bin Laden formed al-Qaeda in Iraq. After Zarqawi's death in 2006, al-Qaeda in Iraq created an umbrella organization, Islamic State in Iraq (BBC). I.S.'s current leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi took control of the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI) in 2010. Ever since then, he has been rebuilding and growing the ISI and in April 2013, al-Baghdadi announced the merger of the two groups in Iraq and Syria to form the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). By the end of June 2014, ISIS declared the creation of a caliphate, a state ruled under Islamic law, and changed its name to the Islamic State (BBC). By February 2015, the I.S. is estimated to have between 20,000 and 32,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria. The I.S. has also recruited a great amount of foreign fighters too. In October 2015, National Counterterrorism Center Director Nicholas Rasmussen told Congress that the group had attracted more than 28,000 foreign fighters (BBC). Compared to the number of al-Qaeda members around Osama Bin Laden's death, estimated to be around 10,000-20,000, the I.S. is significantly larger than what al-Qaeda was. The reason why the I.S. has been so much more successful in recruiting both domestic and foreign fighters, is due mainly to their social media use (Chua)+. According to Abu Hajer al-Maghribi, a former cameraman for the I.S., the I.S. has its own army of well-paid media operatives forging propaganda for the I.S. These propaganda videos are broadcasted and available all around the globe, attracting those looking to fight for the I.S. (Miller, and Mekhennet). The successful use of social media to recruit soldiers all around the globe for the I.S. is one of the reasons as to why the I.S. is a global threat that needs to be shut down.

The I.S. has already committed devastating terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels, both within four months of each other. On November 13th, 2015, Ten I.S. members began a series of attacks all around Paris. Places involved included the Stade de France, where French president Francois Hollande was watching a friendly soccer game, the cafe district in Paris, and the deadliest of the attacks was in Bataclan concert hall (Cruickshank). The terrorist set off suicide bombs around the Stade de France, and gunned down civilians in the cafe district and concert hall. All of the terrorists were armed with suicide vests if they were ever about to be captured or killed. The attackers killed 130 victims, and left between 352 and 368 injured with 80 taken to the hospital in serious condition (Cruickshank). Five months later, the ones who orchestrated the Paris attacks, launched attacks in Brussels airport and Maalbeek metro station. Early in the morning on March 22nd, one bomb went off inside Brussels airport and ten minutes later, a second bomb went off in the metro station. In total, 32 victims were killed and over 300 others were left injured with 62 in critical condition (Cruickshank).

 In response to the attacks in Paris, president Hollande has bombed the main city where the I.S. is based, Raqqa, Syria. Instead of invoking Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which treats an attack on one member as an attack on all, Hollande invoked a weaker provision of the European Union treaty, which only pledges members to provide aid and assistance (Chavez). France invoked this provision instead of Article 5 to keep options open, specifically with Russia (Chavez). This means that if France can't rely on its oldest ally, the U.S., to assist them after a terrorist attack, France will look to Russia for help who has already committed soldiers to fighting the I.S. Even though allies to the U.S. want the U.S. to send soldiers to stop the I.S., the U.S. still refuses and this just allows more attacks in European cities as seen in Brussels. Even after the Brussels attacks, the U.S. has not upped the number of ground soldiers overseas. The U.S. is just allowing the I.S. to threaten and attack innocent civilians in Europe by not sending soldiers. The I.S. are proving to every country that just by bombing them, they won't be stopped or slowed. The terrorists who attacked Bataclan hall are quoted as saying "Where is the singer? Where are those Yanks? It's an American group, you're bombing us with the Americans, so we're going to hit the Americans and you," in reference to an American rock group playing at the Bataclan that night. The bombing raids are just influencing the I.S. to attack back (Cruickshank). By sending a full force of soldiers with France, the U.S. can fully eliminate the leaders of the I.S. and take back all of the territory lost in Iraq and Syria.

Paris and Brussels will not be the last European cities to be attacked as long as the U.S. doesn't send ground soldiers overseas. There are over 28,000 foreign fighters for the I.S., with over 4,000 having been smuggled into European and western countries (BBC). There is no doubt another attack is possible and imminent. The U.S. shouldn't sit around waiting for another attack to happen before sending in soldiers. The I.S. has already made threats against Washington D.C. and New York City (Chavez). The U.S. needs to send soldiers to Iraq and Syria and uproot the leadership of the I.S. before the commanders can orchestrate another attack, whether it be in Europe or the U.S., or even the Middle East. There are monthly suicide bombers that take innocent lives in Iraq and Syria. The most recent one was at an amateur soccer game in Iraq, killing 26 and wounding 71 (Williams). The U.S. State Department released a statement after the attacks saying "The U.S. remains committed in its support to the Iraqi people and the unity of Iraq" (Williams). Even though the U.S. claims to be continuing to support the Iraqi people, they still stand by while innocent people are murdered monthly from I.S. suicide bombers. The support that the U.S. provides Iraq is obviously not enough as the I.S. continues to claim lives. Through sending more soldiers over to the Middle East, the U.S. will be able to actually protect and support Iraqi citizens and prevent future attacks from happening. The U.S. can't stand idle as the I.S. continues to plan larger scale attacks on cities in the Middle East, Europe, and even the U.S. Enough innocent people have been killed to where the U.S. should step in.

Currently, there are 4,000 U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq (Fantz). Previously, during the first Iraq conflict, the U.S. sent over 150,000 to accomplish their goals (Kinzer). These soldiers are not fighting in all-out combat and U.S. president Barack Obama has tried to make a promise since he started his involvement in Iraq and Syria that they won't see combat. They are there to support and advise the Iraqi army (Fantz). The bulk of the U.S.'s involvement in Iraq is in air strikes. In 2015 alone, there were over 5,000 airstrikes by the U.S. in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. has committed over 150 planes to bomb I.S. controlled zones (Fantz). Although airstrikes have been proven to wear down insurgencies as seen in Afghanistan, airstrikes alone cannot defeat the I.S. More U.S. soldiers fighting in a combat role is what is needed to distract and stop the I.S. from committing daily terrorist attacks against innocent civilians in the Middle East for the time being. Barack Obama has gotten closer to breaking his promise that soldiers won't see combat under his presidency. After the Paris attacks in November, Obama sent over several dozen Special Operations forces to Iraq and Syria (Baker et, all). Even sending these Special Operations forces to Iraq and Syria is a lot more beneficial to supporting both governments and citizens than just bombing the I.S. As seen in Afghanistan, the nightly raids against the Taliban were extremely effective, destroying the command structure including leader Osama Bin Laden (Fantz). Also having more U.S. soldiers on the ground can help protect Iraqi and Syrian civilians that may get caught in the middle of the I.S. U.S. soldiers can also help the Iraqi government push back the I.S. and regain territory and very valuable oil fields. Since the I.S. makes most of its funding from selling oil to neighboring countries and buyers, taking back these oil fields can cut back on the I.S.'s funding (Chua). The benefits of having a full scale assault on the I.S. outweigh the negatives that come with the assault.

Of course, there are arguments as to why the U.S. shouldn't start another war in Iraq and Syria. One of the arguments is if the cost of human life during a war is worth stopping the I.S. When compared to the first Iraq War between 2003 and 2013, an estimated 174,000 Iraqis were killed, with 112,000-123,000 being civilian non-combatants. The number of dead U.S. soldiers totals 4,491 (Mauro). The number of dead Iraqis in that time period is of course extremely huge, but since the start of the Iraqi civil war in the beginning of 2014, around 39,000 Iraqi civilians have already been killed, due mainly to the I.S. killings and in some part, the airstrikes from the Iraqi government and the U.S. coalition (Fantz). If this trend continues in the same time period that the Iraq War was, around 195,000 Iraqi civilians will be killed by 2024. This is much larger than Iraq War civilian casualties. Obviously, civilians will still die if the U.S. attacks the I.S. with a full army, but the number of dead civilians will be nowhere near as large as almost 200,000. Sacrifices will be made by U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians, but their sacrifices will be warranted if the I.S. is stopped from taking innocent lives all around the world. 

Another argument that comes with sending a full U.S. army to fight the I.S. is the cost of that army. During the first Iraq War, the U.S. committed 150,000 soldiers and $60 billion per year in Iraq. Currently, the cost of the 4,000 soldiers overseas is around $5.5 billion per year (Kinzer). This is including the cost for all the airstrikes and bombings. If the U.S. increases the number of soldiers stationed in Iraq and Syria, they can reduce the number of airstrikes on I.S. controlled territory and thus not spend more money than needed. It will still cost billions to fight a war against the I.S., but again, having to maybe tax American citizens more or cut budgeting on government works would make it worth guaranteeing the security for civilians all around the world from the I.S.

One final argument against sending ground soldiers to fight the I.S. is that the I.S. wants the U.S. to send soldiers. Stephen Kinzer of the Boston Globe argues:

It (I.S.) knows that the presence of American soldiers in the Middle East will attract more radicals and misguided idealists to its cause. For many of these young men and women, fighting Kurds or Shiite militias may not seem especially glorious. To face the mighty United States on Middle Eastern soil, and if possible to kill an American or die at American hands, is their dream. We are giving them a chance to realize it.

The attraction of radicals to the I.S. isn't good but it also isn't the worst thing to happen. By rounding themselves up in a smaller area, the radicals and the I.S. are making it easier for the U.S. to eliminate those who threaten peace in the Middle East. Of course that means there will be more I.S. fighters going up against the U.S., but the U.S. has faced more organized and trained armies before. Abu Hajer al-Maghribi, the former I.S. cameraman, stated that I.S. soldiers only go through a few weeks of training before they are sent out into the field (Miller, and Mekhennet). Having to fight more soldiers now to guarantee a more peaceful world after all the fighting is done is a trade-off that is definitely worth it.

To guarantee a more peaceful and secure future for innocent people all around the world, the United States needs to send over ground soldiers to Iraq and Syria to defeat the Islamic State. The I.S. has proven over and over again that the bombing runs committed by the Iraqi government and the U.S.-led coalition is not affecting them. Benefits that will be seen right away include protecting the innocent Iraqi and Syria citizens that are affected from daily I.S. led suicide bombings. U.S. soldiers can protect the civilians and even distract the I.S. from going through with these terrorist attacks. Also, U.S. soldiers can push back I.S. soldiers and regain territory that was lost by the Iraqi and Syrian governments. Once the I.S. is defeated, the world will be a more secure and safer place for everyone. People won't have to worry about terrorist attacks as often as they do as long as the I.S. is alive. The I.S. is the biggest terrorist threat to the world in history and can only be defeated through soldier on soldier combat. 

