ISIS/ISIL and Syria

Only time will tell if the strategy outlined last night by President Obama to "degrade and defeat" ISIS/ISIL will succeed, but it will take the efforts of our European allies and nations in the region to step up and engage diplomatically and militarily.  It will also take countries like Saudi Arabia and others who have provided material and financial support to ISIS/ISIL to turn off the spigot.  The American people will demand it, and won't settle for America to go it alone to protect regimes in the region.

President Obama also faces partisan game playing at home;  House Rethuglicans are avoiding giving him any sign of support for actions in Syria, while they cynically campaign on what they want the public to believe is Obama's "weakness" in the Middle East.  With airstrikes in Syria against ISIS/ISIL occurring today for the first time, the Administration is taking a gamble on bringing interested parties together internationally, while dealing with the same politics at home.