Something is wrong with America and I don’t see any foreseeable solution. How many times will American soldiers have to go into Iraq and its neighbors in order to solve a problem that has no solution.

We have had American presidents send troops for some type of military action there yet it continues to this day. It is no different than the continuous attack that insects and mice do to my house. If I stop for one moment they manage to come in one way or another. We adopted two cats to counter the mice and they are just as ineffective as the Iraqi Army as they watch the mice instead. Unfortunately that applies to the United States government as far as any solution in Iraq goes.

Make no doubt about it, war is hell. Every member of my immediate family and some friends could tell you that the Lane that went to Vietnam never returned. It’s something I survived through so I can only imagine what multiple tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere in combat would do to members of our military. Please don’t blame them because their commitment to duty even exceeds that of our elected officials at every level. But there is one question that begs an answer and even I am surprised that I have to ask it. It’s an easy question to ask but one that probably has no easy answer. What is the answer?

There is no doubt in my mind that no response to terrorists, no matter who or what they are, will stop them from attacking us or anyone else that they hate. Couple that will being fanatics only complicates any solution, even a military one. With regards to any solution as to the terrorists known as ISIS, I cannot see that attacks by air could be a final solution to eliminate them. Last weekend, even President Obama admitted that our intelligence agencies underestimated their size and strength. What’s kind of strange here is that the United States was worried about the spread of communism in Vietnam if we lost the war. Technically we didn’t lose the Vietnam War because we just got up and left and failed miserably at supporting the South Vietnamese. Did communism spread because of that? I think not because now Vietnam has communities made up of retired Americans.

One can only hope that the coalition being formed will be strong militarily and effective as well. So far the terrorists in both Syria and Iraq continue their offensive against anyone they deem an enemy even though they are being attacked by aircraft and cruise missiles. A defector from ISIS admitted they abandoned their buildings when they realized bombs and missiles were going to come. Even all the bombing we did in South Vietnam wasn’t effective enough to stop the communist attack although the North Vietnamese had more casualties than that of the United States.

What I find really strange is how the Iraqi army collapsed when attacked by the terrorists. I have to presume that all the money and equipment we gave them was in the billions and yet they are almost totally ineffective as a fighting force. It’s a shame that the terrorists could capture so much of the equipment we gave to Iraq, including tanks and artillery. I did read an interesting report that some of the leaders in ISIS were former members of Saddam Hussein’s military, including a couple of generals. Even more interesting is the fact that some of the Iraqi army is in Syria fighting with the army of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

I see no viable solution for either Afghanistan, Iraq or even Libya, which has descended into chaos. There could be a time when instead of calling us for support, it will be Russia or China. I expect that in any one of those countries people will go back to killing each other when we leave.

Lane Hiltunen of Windham says arms are for hugging.