Welfare Militarism & The Rise Of The Islamic State

“No will to fight.”

That’s what US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said of the Iraqi military, in relation to their conflict with Islamic State forces. The Islamic State, sometimes referred to ISIS or ISIL, recently seized control of the Iraqi city of Ramadi. Iraqi forces fled the scene, despite outnumbering the enemy, and left behind a massive weapons cache for the militants to add to their arsenal.

The fall of Ramadi, and the rapid advancement of Islamic State forces across the region have US officials on edge, with some, like Arizona Senator John McCain, calling for a massive ground invasion by the United States. Unfortunately, it is exactly that line of thinking which caused this mess to begin with.