I, along with countless others, have repeatedly written about the futility of air strikes on ISIS, without ground troops.  Over this time, many cable news people, and many of their guests – including every military veteran I personally have seen – have said the same.

I can do it again now, or just put up CNN\’s lead story, which you can click on for the full detail.  I think I\’ll go the CNN route:

ISIS advance could bring civilian \’massacre\’

Airstrikes haven\’t stopped militants

Airstrikes are not stopping ISIS, which is threatening slaughter in the holdout Syrian Kurdish city of Kobani and securing its grip on Iraq\’s Anbar province near Baghdad

Memo to President Obama: 

Is that loud enough, Mr. President?  Is that clear enough?

Bombing from the air without well armed, well trained ground troops, keeps military safe from ISIS.  That is why you were able to put together your “fauxalition” of countries happy to follow your lead and put none of their troops in danger.

But it keeps ISIS safe too.  Yes, each air strike kills the ISIS lunatics that it  hits.  But every other ISIS lunatic continues to advance, because there is no one on the ground to stop them. 

In short, as you keep being told but apparently do not want to hear, air strikes without ground troops are futile.

Should the troops on the ground be ours?  No.  On that we agree.

But should our troops, limitedly, be there to train, to advise, to strategize?  Yes, of course.

And should we be supplying arms to the troops – Peshmerga, Iraqi, etc. – who would be doing the fighting – troops which appear to be hopelessly outmatched in weaponry by ISIS?  Yes, of course.

In short, Mr. President, do you want to fight and defeat ISIS?  Or do you want to be politically cool to your left wing base by keeping us out of it?

And if you do nothing but continue air strikes, who will you blame the impending Kobani massacre on?  How about the fall of Anbar, which portends the fall of Baghdad? 

What will you say when it is pointed out that, if you had left a residual force in Iraq instead of pulling everyone out and preening for the cameras about it, ISIS would not have dared to be anywhere near Anbar, thus Baghdad?

Will you blame it on George Bush?  Will you make a speech and say the “jayvee squad” just got lucky? 

Who do you think will believe you?

I\’ll end by noting that you consider yourself a champion of Islamic people.  In what way is this good for Islamic people?

Maybe you can think about it on the way to your next golf round, or $32,000 a person fundraiser.  Ok?