What was missing from the Authorization for Use of Military Force against the Islamic State.

Guest post: @Tommywasright, a SFC with 28 years of service, is an adjunct instructor at a small college in Maine.

On Feb 19 The Atlantic posted an article titled ‘For the First Time, Americans Support Ground Troops Against ISIS’. I saw this yesterday when I was taking a break from work stuff and surfing a little to maintain situational awareness regarding this mortal coil we all inhabit. My initial reaction was unprintable. Remembering some good advice about cooling down before revisiting things that initiate a visceral response, I backed out and went back to spreadsheets and letters of instructions and memorialization packets and…you get the idea. After having given myself a solid 24 hours to cool down I revisited the site, and did a little more digging, and discovered the situation is even worse then it appears.

The Atlantic article (a concise, well crafted piece that links to their cover story for March which is excellent reading as a standalone piece) opines the brutality demonstrated by ISIS (ISIL) has made ‘a profound impression on the American public, gradually turning a seemingly war-weary country in favor not only of airstrikes against the group, but also, according to a new CBS News poll, the deployment of ground troops.” Figuring that I should exercise some of that diligence I ask of my students when they get a piece of data they like/dislike, I dug a little more (okay, I really didn’t have to do any digging, I just clicked on the link), finding the CBS News Poll referenced in the article.

It appears that support for sending U.S. ground troops to fight ISIS has risen among all partisans, but more importantly, there has been statistically significant improvement in two demographic groups (Democratic and Independent). What shook me even more was the fact that the article reported ‘there is public consensus for passing the military authorization bill President Obama has requested from Congress…two in three Americans think Congress should pass this authorization…”

Have those two in three Americans read the draft of that authorization? Have they?!? I know that I did when it was first reported on, and I went back to re-read it this morning to see if I had skipped the part about how this action would be funded if boots eventually end up hitting the ground. Upon re-reading the draft, I still appreciate the sunset provision and still find the phrasing of the limitations clause ‘The authority granted in subsection (a) does not authorize the use of the United States Armed Forces in enduring offensive ground combat operations” to be more than a little nebulous. I didn’t see any provisions in that draft about instituting a limited national call up to provide additional human resources for ‘boots on the ground’. (See what I did there?? A little subliminal suggestion for the policy makers out there, wink, wink…nudge, nudge)

While disappointing, I realize that would be expecting far too much of our politicians and population. You know, something like the expectation of a straight up or down decision on whether they would vote for a limited national call up of some of their constituents, who by the way, are required to register with Selective Service to alleviate any crisis’s which require more troops than the volunteer military can supply. Something like the expectation of a determination by the President of the United States to commit the population of his country towards a strategic objective. Something like an expectation by the population of our country that the use of the Armed Forces needs to be a national commitment. But I digress.

What I was actually hoping to see was some form of a funding mechanism designed to pay for the costs associated with those ‘boots on the ground’. Some way for the two in three of those in the American public who support the “Authorization for Use of Military Force against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” to pay for the use of those forces. Actually pay for the use of those forces now, and not borrow money that my kids and potential grandkids will have to pay back down the road. Evidently it was too much to ask of the American public when the liberation of Iraq kicked off. I was hoping it wouldn’t be too much to ask for now.