I have changed my position on this greatly, and consider this latest round of dealing with the ISIS something we were dared (perhaps better said, bullied) into.
What is happening is further conformation to me that our foreign policy is confusing, hypocritical, and ultimately a problem we make worse because of our attitudes about how another region of the world should exist.
What gets to me the most is ISIS did not show up yesterday, those that make up ISIS have been there a very long time and looked to opprotunity to capitalize on. This was true of the multiple way civil war in Syria, and the incredible weakness of the Iraq government (and military.)
Our Nobel Peace Prize winning President Obama is now the 4th President in a row to drop a bomb on Iraq and mean it, and now we are striking targets in Syria as well. As apart of a "coalition" that includes plenty of other nations we claim are friends but also exibit harsh treatment for those of competition religions, themselves show outward sexism and pedophilia, and other inequalities and less than acceptable social behavior. We claim we are helping "moderates" who seem to tave no real interest in engaging ISIS in Syria. As for Iraq, they have demostrated well their aptitude to drop their US issued weapons and run like hell to Baghdad (or other regions of Iraq ISIS does not seem to want... at least not today.) ISIS's view of state independence under such religious control is not unique but we are told via fear that we have to do something about them especially while overlooking others perhaps a notch down in extremism assuming the US gets something out of the deal.
I think we are making a monumental mistake. Between Bush 41, Clinton, Bush 43, and now Obama we have a trail of nations from Libya, to Egypt, to Syria, to Iraq, to Somalia, to Afghanistan, to several others that have become long term disasters with a fiscal consequence only beaten out by the human lives lost, or forever changed, consequence. All one has to do is look at the overwhelmed VA to realize we really did a great disservice to those we put in harms way for what I history will tell was very little gain. We decide which tyrants are acceptable assuming there is something in it for us, while pointing the finger at others suggesting they are the problem.
ISIS does seem like a huge problem, one I would argue we greatly ensured would happen with decades of terrible foreign policy designed to ensure there would be plenty out there that did not like us very much. All evidence supporting. I think Obama got punked into dealing with this in the manner he has, and joined a long line of predicessors who seem to have caused more problems than they have solved over the years.