Don’t become embroiled in another Mid-East war

The Rev. Robert Moore, Princeton
President Obama has presented what he believes is a viable strategy to eliminate ISIS, but for me his speech raised as many questions as it provided solutions.
We’ve seen how unintended consequences of military action can spiral out of control, causing more pain and suffering in the region and hurting our security. U.S. air attacks, and the civilian deaths they cause, have often served as recruitment tools for groups like ISIS. Too many U.S. weapons have already fallen into the hands of the extremists.
No combat boots on the ground? We already have close to 1,300 troops in Iraq, and may need to send more, and possibly into Syria as well, for any number of contingencies that might arise. It also presumes that many nations in the region will provide such "boots," but very few are making such commitments so far.
Why isn’t there more emphasis on effective nonviolent alternatives for countering ISIS? We could crack down on oil dealers purchasing ISIS’s oil on the black market. Why not restart UN-sponsored negotiations to end the Syrian civil war and charge ISIS leaders with crimes against humanity in the International Court?
Best of all would be for the U.S. to take global leadership in curtailing global warming by a "race to the moon" type of push for rapidly shifting away from oil, gas, and nuclear toward clean renewables like solar and wind. By doing so, we would undermine petro-dictatorships in the Middle East, Russia, etc., and act most effectively for No Wars, No Warming.
Let’s emphasize these alternatives before becoming embroiled in another Middle East war, a probable quagmire-to-be. For more information, visit the Coalition for Peace Action web site, www.peacecoalition.org or call 609-924-5022.
The Rev. Robert Moore 
Executive Director, Coalition for Peace Action 
Co-Pastor of Christ Congregation 
Princeton 