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Obama to Retreat from ISIS in Egypt

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The fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria has gotten the most coverage. ISIS thriving in Libya after Obama's illegal regime change war there has gotten less publicity. ISIS in the Sinai, where it has teamed up with Hamas, while attacking Egypt, has gotten almost no publicity. But that might be changing as at least a partial pullout advances within the administration.

What's at issue is the MFO or Multinational Force of Observers that's there to keep the peace between Israel and Egypt. The force is not there to fight ISIS, but for the moment ISIS is targeting Egyptian forces, rather than foreign soldiers. Still members of that force are potentially at risk and were pulled out from some areas after recent attacks.

The White House however appears to be turning into a potentially larger move. The plans are still vague and the reactions varied.

1. The US is not there to fight ISIS. It isn't even authorized to do so. But a pullout in the face of ISIS would be a major victory for a more obscure outpost of the terror group. And there's no doubt that ISIS would trumpet it loudly.

That may not bother Obama, but it should. Unlike previous pullout discussions, this would very clearly be the US surrendering to the Islamic State and cutting and running. That's how ISIS took off.

 

2. There are questions as to whether this is meant to pressure Israel and Egypt, two countries Obama and his White House cronies really seem to hate right now. Certainly troop safety has never worried Obama. And liberals tend to love peacekeeping missions. There's no obvious reasons to advance this except some flavor of spite and some attempt at applying pressure in aid of the Muslim Brotherhood and its Hamas terror arm in Israel.

 

3. The peace between Israel and Egypt is shaky, but stable (except for the period when Obama helped overthrow Egypt's government and replace it with the Muslim Brotherhood terrorists who helped ISIS in the Sinai take off). The MFO is of fairly limited use, but having US troops there is a significant symbol. Most militaries are useless even as symbols because they cut and run. The US is different. Despite the Obama years, it still has a weight and a credibility that most of the rest of the MFO does not have. A US pullout would destabilize the situation. It wouldn't lead to war, but it would have a negative outcome.

 


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