Article content continued

His policy is insane, and has been a conspicuous failure, unless the recent acquiescence in an eventual Iranian nuclear military capability miraculously makes the world safer. But he is assumedly sincere and thinks turning the other cheek will accomplish something useful. The Paris outrages and Russian airliner bombing may not convince him to change direction, but they may effectively depose the United States as the world’s chief alliance leader, until it chooses to resume that role. Such a development would spike Obama’s offensive of pre-emptive concessions. An unlikely group of countries making common cause, probably including both the moderate Muslims like Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, as well as Israel and even Iran, will then be interim trustees for the United States as principal power in the world while Obama plays out his pacifistic fantasies in solitude (no other country takes this charade of his seriously), until the next U.S. president is installed. Neither Mrs. Clinton nor any of the serious Republicans will continue Obama’s replacement of foreign policy with psychiatry and his transformation of the Pentagon into the Peace Corps.

In all of these circumstances, Prime Minister Trudeau should reconsider his strategy and the country’s interest. He is unambiguous in his animosity to ISIL and his desire to increase the contribution to training anti-ISIL Sunni Muslim forces is good policy. Our air contribution has been tokenistic (six CF-18’s and three support planes), but the whole campaign has been tokenistic up to now — a few missions a day and certainly nothing on a scale that anyone would expect to be more than a nuisance to ISIL. It now appears possible that substantial special forces from major military powers will be inserted to lead and support local forces against ISIL and that the air war will be heavily intensified, with, if past French and Russian practice are any guide, a more philosophical view of the misfortunes of collateral damage. ISIL only has about 50,000 active warriors and one of the many irritations of this entire subject has been the failure, despite the unspeakable barbarity of the enemy, as these latest incidents highlight, to apply a level of force that had any chance of success. There should now be a constant offensive, led by exceptionally qualified special forces of serious powers and with overwhelming close air support. The amenable locals should be armed and encouraged properly and the entire operation supported by no-fly zones where appropriate and the immediate strangulation of any oil revenues or trans-border crossing points to the terrorists. First things first, and once ISIL has been exterminated, the chief authors of that action should be able to work out a ceasefire in Syria and Iraq; it certainly can’t happen while ISIL is still completely out of control and murdering hundreds of Europeans every few weeks.