The facts on the ground in Syria and Iraq are very complex.  Trying to ensure coalition leadership gets the targeting done right is akin to attempting to pull your kid off of a spinning merry-go-round blindfolded…there’s lots of opportunity to get it wrong. As of today, April 6, 2015, the Coalition nations conducting  airstrikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium,  Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.  The Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United  States, Bahrain, Canada, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab  Emirates.  All of these assets are coordinated through one air component combatant commander for Operation INHERENT RESOLVE. The current ground combatants in Syria for Inherent Resolve includes the Syrian Army, the original Rebel Insurgents who have been trying to topple Bashar Al-Assad’s Administration for the past four plus years, and ISIL.  To be sure, ISIL is clearly a faction of opportunists who took advantage of the civil war raging between the other two groups and accomplished quite a lot in a very short time-frame. Similarly in Iraq, ISIL recognized the disheveled Iraqi Government and a shaky infrastructure, then looked at the semi-autonomous Kurds and decided they could also exploit the disjointed and dysfunctional situation in Iraq. Considering all of this, and there are five Islamic-based countries flying sorties for the coalition, the United States cannot afford to misstep in the bombing campaign.  You ask why the Obama Administration is so heavy handed in managing the air war?  Because this military action could easily become an albatross around President Obama’s neck, and become the legacy he is saddled with as he leaves the White House.  Basically, a situation very reminiscent of the baggage carried by President Bush when he turned over the keys to Obama in January 2009.  Numerous people in and supporting the Obama Administration derided the Bush Administration for overseeing an apparent botched job in OEF and OIF.  The Obama Administration has learned by the school of hard knocks that managing a combat operation in the Middle East is not as easy as it looks. You can look to the Johnson Administration during the Vietnam War and see a President also micro-managing a complex bombing campaign.  Whether you are Lyndon Johnson or Barack Obama, if you are really worried about the “kids not coloring inside the lines,” then you grab the crayons and start coloring the picture yourself.  Take the time to watch the HBO TV-movie from 2002, “Path to War,” about the Johnson White House during the Vietnam War.  It is very instructive in comprehending how a sitting President tried extremely hard to get the right facts about the War raging in Southeast Asia so good, intelligent decisions could be made about the bombing operations in North Vietnam.  I have no doubt there have been many heated discussions within the Obama Administration about Inherent Resolve’s air war, and the constant efforts to get the bombing done correctly for the ground combatants the Coalition is supporting.  But, make no mistake, numerous parallels are eyed every day in and out of the Administration in terms of how things are measuring up to both the Johnson legacy and the Bush legacy. The risk of “getting-it-wrong” in Syria and Iraq is much too high for the Obama team to feel comfortable letting go of the reins.

Steve Miller, Copyright (c) 2015