Limited Protests Against Airstrikes on ISIS

By HASSAN DOOSTDAR, age 12

During a September 16, 2014 U.S. Senate hearing, Code Pink protesters showed up to speak out against the United States’ continuing bombardment of Islamic State (ISIS), an Islamic militant group based in Syria and Iraq. While the United States has been bombing targets associated with this group since August 8, 2014 there has been very little anti-war protesting tied to the airstrikes.

“I think a lot of people are focused on the climate right now, especially young people, that seems to be closer to heart, and I think on war we as a nation have been numbed.” said David Hartsough.

Polls from the Wall Street Journal/NBC and the Washington Post all point to widespread support from voters for the airstrikes. But only 34 percent of Americans would want combat troops to invade Syria to put a stop to ISIS’s plans, the Wall Street Journal/NBC study revealed.

ISIS expanded into Syria in 2013, taking advantage of the chaos caused by the ongoing civil war there to grow their ranks. It has since used military force to take over areas of Syria and Iraq. The group’s primary stated goal is to form an Islamic government in Iraq and Syria run by a single branch of Muslims called Sunnis.

President Barack Obama authorized the airstrikes for a number of reasons, including trying to help people who were trying to escape ISIS. “Today, America is coming to help,” NBC News reported Obama as saying in August.

But while there doesn’t seem to be a lot of protesting taking place in the United States against the airstrikes, hundreds of protesters marched in London on Oct. 4, 2014.

“History teaches us that when we go and bomb people, militants appear and go stronger,” one protester told Reuters.