1. It’s Obama’s fault. Given our vast economic and military power, any competent leader would be able to force the Iraqis to work together. Yeah, right. How successful was George W. Bush in dealing with the internal political problems in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan?
2. These people are hopeless. Let’s get the hell out of here as fast as possible. It probably wouldn’t take too long for a President Trump to reach that conclusion. It would ultimately mean fighting terrorists at the water’s edge.
3. Legitimate concerns about national security require us to be patient and do the best we can with imperfect actors over whom we have very limited control. This is Obama’s position, and it would be Hillary’s, as well. It would be nice if we could just drop a few bombs, make IS disappear, and withdraw from the Middle East, but the real world doesn’t work that way.