Executive Order For Military Operation Against Isil

MEMORANDUM From: Rich Strand, Chief of Staff, United States Army To: Honorable Ashton Carter, Secretary of Defense Via: General Martin Dempsey, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Subject: EXECUTIVE ORDER FOR MILITARY OPERATION AGAINST ISIL Introduction While relatively unknown in its early years, the terrorist organization known as ISIL, or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, has steadily grown in size and risen in power since its inception in the late 1990’s. With the recent instability in Iraq and the raging Syrian Civil War, the group has seized control of a significant portion of the Levant region. By June 2014, the group declared their expansive territory a Muslim caliphate and proclaimed themselves the Islamic†¦show more content†¦Through the War Powers Resolution and Authorizations of Military Force, the President as Commander in Chief may take action to combat ISIL. Recommendations as to appropriate and effective courses of action will be presented and examined to determine the best course of action to decisively eradicate the threat posed by the Islamic State. Need for an Executive Intervention The need for executive action is clear, and based on straightforward principles. First, ISIL has proven to be a credible threat on multiple fronts. Its unchecked expansion in Syria and Iraq has threatened the sovereignty and integrity of these nations. It is a clear threat to not only to regional stability, but a threat to our allies and partners Middle East and Europe. Perhaps most importantly, ISIL is a credible threat to our homeland, having openly called for the killing of American citizens and intimated attacks on American soil. The members of the organization have already brutally and publically claimed the lives of four U.S. citizens: James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Abdul-Rahman Peter Kassig, and Kayla Jean Mueller.2 In pursuit of their ideological vision of a muslim caliphate, the group has violated a multitude of international laws and principles. The United Nations contends that ISIL has committed human rights abuses and war crimes, with reports of forcible recruitment of child soldiers, forced religious conversion, sexual slavery, rape and involuntary marriage,