Maria Arzoumanian

English 101
Professor, Petrides
11/11/2015
Middle East Defeating ISIS
It is a known fact that history repeats itself. Throughout the years, United States has
fought many terrorist groups that were a threat to the world. As a first world country, it is
expected of them to help whenever they are needed. Also keep in mind, when it comes to
fighting an organization terrorist group, it is hard to destroy them, without the help of other
countries. ISIS is a huge issue in the Middle East right now, and it is only right for Middle
Eastern countries to fight their own battles. If the United States and western allies provide
Middle Eastern Countries that are willing to fight ISIS with all of the equipment necessary, ISIS
could be defeated.
ISIS had become a hot issue in the news, even though its origin is fairly new. The roots
of ISIS go back to Oct. 15, 2006, when what is known as the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) was
established (Anjarini). In a short time from its creation ISIS has succeeded in imposing itself
as a key player in the complex Syrian equation (Anjarini). This shows the horrific things the
organization is capable of. If the world does not come together to stop this organization, it will
only keep growing. Also, it is mentioned in Debate.org that we do not understand hundred
percent what ISIS is capable of, and the United States getting involved in something that does
not even affect them in any sort of way, will only cause more problems, maybe even a World War
III.

The United States should not send ground troops to Syria to fight ISIS, but that does not
mean they should not support Middle Eastern countries that want to fight the war. As we have
seen before, the United States is getting involved into other countries problems, will not solve
the problem. In fact it will only kill thousands of thousands of American soldiers and get no
resolution from it, as we saw it during a long period of battle with Aqidah, it will end with no
good results. If President Obama sends in ground troops to Syria to stop ISIS, it will [only] do
the opposite: prolong the war, guarantee more human suffering, and serve the interests of the
Islamic State and our other extremist enemies.(Kinzer). Instead, the western nations including
the United States, should provide the best equipment, humanitarian aids, and support to Middle
Eastern countries to help defeat ISIS. The United States started a coalition in 2014, according to
an article on the Washington Post by Sebastian Payne, the coalition first only included 40
nations, but later on it expanded to 62 nations that are willing to help stop ISIS. According to the
Article by Payne, twenty allied nations including European nations are providing air support and
military equipment, thirteen allied nations are providing humanitarian aids, and twenty allied
nations are expressing support with anything they might need extra to help stop ISIS. The United
States should give these aids and equipment to Middle Eastern countries that are willing to
assemble a ground troop force to fight ISIS on the ground, this will help the Middle Eastern
countries to gain power over the region and giving them a higher chance to beat ISIS.
Recently, the U.S. military cargo planes gave 50 tons of ammunition to rebel groups
overnight in northern Syria (Starr) to help the rebels fight ISIS themselves. Of course, that did
not go well, it only caused more conflict with Syria, losing the main focus: ISIS, and started
focusing on the Syrian government instead. Keep in mind, even though the Syrian Rebels were
capable of ending ISIS with the weapons the western countries provided, theres a good chance

they might use that weapon towards their own benefits, which will increase deaths in Syria.
According to the Washington Post, an article by Liz Sly announced, the U.S-made missiles were
being fired at Russian-made tanks and at the vehicles belonging to the Syrian army. Causing a
conflict within Russia and Syrian rebels. Not only did this start a conflict with Russia, but also
worsen the ongoing civil war, instead of the main goal, which is to defeat ISIS. Instead of
trusting those equipment with anonymous Syrian rebels, who might also be a part of small
radical Islamic terrorist groups, who will use the weapons for their own goods. The United States
should provide those weapons to the Middle Eastern countries who are already part of the
coalition, such as, Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and
Qatar to strengthen their military and assemble troop forces. This will give a higher chance to
defeat ISIS.
Allowing Middle Eastern countries to fight their own wars, gives them the benefit of
overcoming any future conflicts they might face in the region. Providing weapons will be the
start to growing the Middle Easts military and equipment arsenal that they will need as a country
to defeat ISIS. Fighting ISIS will be a practice to the Middle East, which may also start solving
problems within the Middle Eastern countries. This could result in less war because each country
will have the same equipment. Some Middle Eastern countries are asking for weapons and aids
from western nations to start fighting ISIS. During an interview with Jordans king, Abdullah, he
said We, as Arab and Muslim countriesneed to take ownership of this. (Beeny). The threat of
ISIS endangers Middle Eastern countries the most, so it is only right for those countries to
receive the weapons to end the threat to their people. Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi
Arabia, Iraq and Jordan have started to send troops to their own borders to halt any threats from
coming in, according to the article on Newsweek by Tara Beeny. Not only will this allow the

Middle Eastern countries to step up and learn how to defend their own countries, but it will also
help the Western nations. The Western nations will only need to donate weapons, in return they
will not lose anyone from their Military. It is not worth risking peoples lives if it does not
involve them to. This allows for the Western nations including the United States to get involved
but not too involved. The Middle Eastern countries can stop ISIS, with their army, and the
weapons donated from the Western nations. There is no need to involve other countries army if it
doesnt involve them directly. Once the Middle East learns to work together and build up their
Military, it will be a benefit that will last them forever. This could result in new traditions, which
is working together rather than working against each other. Some even believe through
Debate.org that a small portion of the reason why ISIS was developed was because the Middle
East has never learned to work together. After the Middle East defeats ISIS, they need to make
sure ISIS does not return, with the help of western nations, Iraq and Syria need to reestablish
their government for terrorist groups like ISIS not to grow and spread like it did. Many
newspapers online such as the Washington Post agrees that the Middle Eastern countries should
come together to defeat ISIS.
Although many journalists believe that Middle Eastern Countries should be the ones to
defeat ISIS, some people might disagree. With an interview I have done with Rita Jirikijian, a
lawyer that works for the Lebanese Government, she has told me her opinion of what she thinks
will happen if the Middle Eastern countries did fight ISIS together. Jirikijian believes, with
Middle Eastern countries fighting their own battles could result in a bigger issue such as oil,
which has been a problem in the Middle East for a while now. The Middle Eastern nations could
use the weapons for their own benefits. The weapons will give the nations a higher chance to
start fighting among each other for personal reasons, such as religion, culture and even oil, with

those three being the top issues in between the middle eastern countries. With these conflicts, it
will cause the Middle Eastern countries to create a new goal of fighting each other instead of
working together to defeat ISIS. As we have seen before in history, it is hard for the Middle East
to work together as a team such as the wars in between Iraq and Iran, Iraq and Kuwait, and Israel
and Palestine. Also, there is not a 100 percent certainty that ISIS could be defeated, theres
always a chance for it to grow back after thousands of lives are lost trying to defeat them. There
are also countries in the Middle East that do not want to join the war to end ISIS, and no one can
force them to, which will cause more death in countries who do want to fight ISIS. The situation
with ISIS, is very difficult to resolve. The only thing that is certain is that the current measures
being taken to defeat ISIS are not working. By giving weapons to Middle Eastern countries that
are willing to fight ISIS, it give the region a fighting chance instead of letting ISIS continue its
crimes against humanity. Nothing in war is curtain but sometimes drastic measures have to be
taken.
Giving the Middle Eastern countries the power to defeat ISIS by themselves without the
western nations getting too involved is the best solution there is as of right now. ISIS is only a
threat to its neighbor countries and western nations getting too involved would only make things
worse, maybe even start World War III. Middle Eastern countries who are willing to take a stand
and fight ISIS, such as Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt should receive the weapons and
aids from the Westerns nations including United States. The Middle East joining together gives
the region a better chance to defeat ISIS without the Western nations getting too involved in a
problem that doesn't affect them. History does repeat itself, and allowing the Middle East to
grow its military will help them in the future with towards conflicts.

Citation:
Anjarini, Suhaib "The Evolution of ISIS."Al-Monitor, 01 Nov. 2013. Web.

Beeny, Tara. "ISIS Threat: Why Arent the Arab Nations Stepping Up?" Newsweek, 14 Jan. 2015.
Web.

Jirikijian, Rita. "ISIS." Telephone Interview. 9 Nov. 2015.

Kinzer, Stephen. Sending US Troops to Fight ISIS Will End in Failure. Boston Globe, 14 Nov.
2014

Payne, Sebastian. "What the 60-plus Members of the Anti-Islamic State Coalition Are Doing."
Washington Post. The Washington Post, 25 Sept. 2014. Web.

Starr, Barbara. "U.S. Gives 50 Tons of Ammunition to Syria Rebel Groups" CNN. Cable News
Network, 12 Oct. 2015. Web.

"Should US Help Iraq Fight ISIS." Should US Help Iraq Fight ISIS. Debate.org, n.d. Web.