Defeating ISIL will call for more than airstrikes: #tellusatoday

President Obama said Monday that U.S. and coalition forces are intensifying airstrikes against ISIL and targeting its leaders without using large numbers of U.S. ground troops. Comments from Facebook are edited for clarity and grammar:

The hands-off approach used so far in conducting this war against the Islamic State needs to be reassessed. Air power only does so much. Eventually, we and our allies are going to have to commit more boots on the ground from conventional forces to special operations units.

This isn’t about winning the hearts and minds of the local populace. It’s about separating the souls from the bodies of these Islamic terrorists.

— Damon Walton

I tend to agree with President Obama that sending in a bunch of troops and then playing Whac-A-Mole with more troops when the militants pop up elsewhere likely won’t succeed.

It is also true that what we are doing is inadequate in the face of a group of people who think they can be involved in bringing on the apocalypse and expect to be rewarded for it.

— Barbara Vandenburg Darcy

As the parent of three teenagers, I thank God that Obama is at the controls. We need calm during these perilous times.

— Edward Long

Quit worrying about collateral damage and bomb everything that moves. We didn’t worry about that in Japan, and it put a stop to the war.

— Larry Smith

Letter to the editor:

The massacre in Paris on Friday should be a wake-up call for Western civilization. Just like Nazism and communism, radical Islam desires world domination. Its followers want to destroy all religions other than their perverted version of Islam. They will kill every Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Jew, Confucianist, atheist and non-radical Muslim they can get their bloodthirsty hands on to frighten the rest into submission.

We must defeat these terrorist extremists before they destroy civilization and force us all to convert or die. Fortunately, the vast majority of people on our planet are good and want life to continue. Hopefully, we will rise up and defeat the radical Islamic monsters.

Douglas Miller; Franklin, Mich.

POLICING THE USA: A look at race, justice, media

We asked our followers what they thought about President Obama’s no-ground-troops approach in Syria. Comments from Twitter are edited for clarity and grammar:

President Obama fully understands what is needed to combat the Islamic State and terrorism without sacrificing more U.S. lives.

— @babyruth1994

Obama loses for sure with his current “strategy” of leading from behind, opening our borders and waiting to be attacked.

— @yoktomsqueegee

Obama is asleep at the wheel.

— @GHFerdinand

More ground troops is not the answer, but the U.S. needs to re-evaluate and be proactive in the region.

— @RunMikeAnderson

For more discussions, follow @USATOpinion or #tellusatoday.