Once again Americans gathered in front of their TV's and sat on the edge of their seats as the President delivered a speech. The subject of this particular speech was about the terrorist group known as ISIL and the United States' plans for combating it. Now that Iraq has formed a stable government, the United States is leading a coalition to help suppress the ISIL threat. How exactly does the President plan on doing this? President Obama explained a plan that involves effectively hitting ISIL targets with airstrikes. The President assured that no piece is off land, stating that the US will go into Syria if need be. President Obama pledged that the 475 US troops being sent overseas will not be fighting in a combat mission, but rather work towards training Iraqi fighters and providing intelligence and equipment to those in need. The plan also specified that the coalition would work towards preventing ISIL attacks and cutting off their funding. Lastly, President Obama promised that servicemen and women would be providing humanitarian assistance to anybody in need.
President Obama delivered his speech with the same firm voice and demeanor that he usually uses when he addresses the nation. However, tonight's address felt somewhat different than all the others. There was a much stronger sense of realism and seriousness to his voice. It sounded like he was very passionate about "eradicating the cancer that is ISIL." It almost seemed as if President Obama had been directly affected by ISIL. If I was a member of ISIL and I listened to President Obama give that address, I would be pooping my ISIL pants and trying to find the best hiding spot before it was too late.
The part of the message that really stuck out was the way the President described ISIL and the language he used when talking about the group. President Obama began his address by belittling ISIL and making them out to be nothing more than a group of angry people throwing a temper tantrum. For example, ISIL calls themselves a state. President Obama said that "ISIL is not Islamic" and "ISIL is not a state." the President continued by saying "ISIL is recognized by no government nor by the people it subjugates." Finally, President Obama says that ISIL has "no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way." To summarize, President Obama shrinks ISIL down from an apparently large, intimidating terrorist organization and makes them appear as a small, inferior, and helpless pack of animals. This made me actually believe that this plan could work and eventually, just as Al Qaeda slowly diminished, ISIL will be eradicated to nothing short of irrelevancy.
The media truth that stands out the most is truth four. Truth Four states that "nothing is new." Well ISIL isn't the first terrorist organization to haunt the world. Go back as briefly as Al Qaeda and you'll find a similar animal. AL Qaeda and ISIL both operated off of US soil, but terrorist groups ("terrorist" meaning "a person who terrorizes or frightens others") have been affecting American lives for over 100 years. Take a trip down Memory Lane and think back to The Soviets during the Cold War, the Japanese during World War II, and even the KKK. All were terrorist groups and each group, some more than others, was covered by the media. So there you go; everything that happened in the past will happen again. Once ISIL fades from our attention, it won't be long before another terrorist group takes center stage and commands an address from the president.
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