A lot of folks were sitting on their couches this week yelling, “yee haw, take that ISIS!”  It’s unfortunate we would cheer this as a solution.  Let’s look at the source of the problem.

Back in 2001 there was no ISIS.  When we invaded Afghanistan, and later Iraq, it was widely predicted there would be a backlash in the form of a large and growing terror organization.  First it was al-Qaeda, then it was ISIS.  But the opposition grew as a predicted reaction to our instigation of broader violence in Middle Eastern.

And like whack-a-mole, when we attack one head, another regrows (or emerges).

The rise of Trump in the US has already been an effective recruiting tool for ISIS.  This week’s violence makes their pitch all the more credible.

The expected reaction? It could be anything from another major terrorist attack on our own soil to World War III.

So before you yell, “yee haw,” try to recall all the way back to 2001 where this came from, who started it, and look at the longer term play out.  We can’t kill our way to victory.  There will always be more.

P.S. The Afghans, responding to the nickname “mother of all bombs” note that no mother would ever do that to her children.