Originally Posted by
jolihokistix
1. IS is everyone's enemy, not just 'ours'. They are surrounded by peoples and nations and sects willing and wanting to fight them. No strong reason here for an outer ring to get involved immediately.
2. IS wants the West to come down from the sky and put boots on the ground. Why? IS knows that the one way to rally Arabs and Muslims to their cause is to get the West trampling their sacred soil once more. This is their declared aim, and to oblige them would be an initial victory for them. Not to oblige them will cut the wind to their fire and give them far less local legitimacy.
3. Public opinion within Western countries is volubly against further military involvement on the ground in the Middle East. The time is definitely not ripe.
4. Look at the massive destruction done to so many cities and populations within Syria already, such as Aleppo, Homs and Kobani. Local combatants did that. Do we want to be led into such urban warfare, carrying the responsibility for the concomitant collateral damage?
Four HUGE reasons as I see it for not sending in ground troops.
A very balanced assessment IMO.