For more than three years, Barack Obama has been trying to avoid getting into a fight in Syria. But this week, with great tracts of the Middle East under the jihadist\u2019s knife, he at last faced up to the inevitable. On September 23rd America led air strikes in Syria against both the warriors of Islamic State (IS) and a little-known al-Qaeda cell, called the Khorasan group, which it claimed was about to attack the West. A president who has always seen his main mission as nation-building at home is now using military force in six countries\u201d\u201dSyria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.<\/p>\n
The Syrian operation is an essential counterpart to America\u2019s attacks against IS in Iraq. Preventing the group from carving out a caliphate means, at the very least, ensuring that neither of these two countries affords it a haven (see article). But more than the future of IS is at stake in the streets of Raqqa and Mosul. Mr Obama\u2019s attempt to deal with the jihadists is also a test of America\u2019s commitment to global security. It is a test that he has been failing until now.<\/p>\n