The US Should Not Be Fighting ISIS

Any participation of the US in the battle against ISIS at this time much less the recently announced increase in troop levels is a mistake of monumental proportions. The stated goal of the US is to destroy ISIS which is not achievable in the current sectarian atmosphere of the Mid-East. Having the US take the lead will only frame the current fight against ISIS as a Western backed attack on Islam with the goal of securing oil supplies and will fan the sectarian flames and assist radical recruitment efforts.

To call the current organization a coalition is a misnomer unless you qualify the description as a coalition of the kicking and screaming. Egypt is willing to participate but wants the Sunni based Muslim Brotherhood which is supported by Saudi Arabia designated as a target of the coalition. Turkey is willing to participate but only if the Shia supported Assad regime is targeted by the coalition and apparently isn't willing to actively participate until ISIS significantly destroys the Kurds which Turkey views as an insurrectionist terrorist group. Iran is willing to participate but views Sunni Iraq as much of an enemy as ISIS. Saudi Arabia, which has the largest and best equipped military in the region, is only willing to participate as a cheer leader and doesn't want an active role for fear of radicalizing the conservative Sunni segments of their population. Saudi Arabia's only contribution so far has been to make some land available for training of the moderate Syrian rebels. Iraq demurs claiming that they don't have the ability to fight on their own at this time. The only thing that all of the players in the region seem to agree on is that they want the US to fix the problem. If there isn't common agreement on what the problem is then the effort will never lead to a solution.

With regard to Iraq, it would be a mistake to assume that Iraq will undertake political reform to include Iraq's Sunnis in government. Ibadi, Maliki's replacement, has a history of being just as anti-Sunni as Maliki and, given that Sadam's Sunni government killed some of his family members (brother and father I seem to recall), is likely to have an emotional bias against an inclusive government. If the US had been able to negotiate an acceptable Status of Forces agreement and been able to have left troops and trainers in Iraq it would not have made a difference to the current abilities of the Iraqi military. The military leadership is totally corrupt with leadership positions routinely bought and sold and equipment budgets routinely pocketed. I heard an interview with an Iraqi soldier who was in Mosul when ISIS attacked. What struck me was that the soldier said that he had just joined the military 10 days before the attack, an amount of time which would not have enabled any significant training. The current re-equipping and training of Iraq's military is not likely to do much more that pad the pockets of well placed Iraqi's

ISIS was not a threat to the US and to use this as a justification is hyperbole. Yes, ISIS is brutal and the terrors they are perpetrating on local populations is tragic but this by itself does not obligate the US to take the lead in military operations against ISIS. Boko Harim in Northern Nigeria is just as brutal as ISIS and more deadly but I haven't heard any calls to send US troops to Nigeria.

The US can win battles against ISIS but not a war, will only inflame hatred of the US in the region, lead to increased radicalization of large segments of local populations and provide an excuse for the local governments not to take responsibility. I'm not suggesting that the US should have no role under any circumstances. However, it might have been best if the US had outlined some principles, told the regional governments to get together and agree on a plan consistent with the US principles and then only after the regional governments had agreed with each other would the US join their coalition.

The current US effort in the Mid-East meets the definition of insanity which has been defined as as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I just feel profoundly sad that so many people of my generation are so willing to send so many outstanding, young individuals on such a dangerous and reckless quest. I understand that many voters for various reasons believe that the US taking the lead in confronting ISIS is the right thing to do but I really wish that the US leaders fashioned policies on a better understanding of history rather than voter polls.

ACA (Obamacare) Federal Marketplace - Expect Major Open Season Problems

The implementation of the Federal Marketplace web site used by roughly 5.5 million people to purchase health insurance in 2013 and early 2014 was plagued by problems. Open season during which people with existing exchange policies can view and change their insurance plans begins on 11/15/14. Additionally, eligible individuals who don't have existing medical policies can file applications and shop for new medical insurance.

I expect that most people assume that after the problems encountered with the implementation and after expending about $200 million to fix the problems and expand capacity that open season will go smoothly. However, it is likely that the Federal Marketplace open season web site performance will experience major problems and be more problematic than the implementation.

Due to concerns about the heartbleed virus, healthcare.gov reset all users' passwords in April 2014. Normally, a password reset would force a user to select a new password after they logged in with their existing password. What appears to have happened is that healthcare.gov disabled everyone's account.

I have tried to help several people access their accounts unsuccessfully. Using the "Forgot my password" option on the login screen does not work. I've have spent hours on the phone with the Marketplace help desk and they have, on multiple occasions, unlocked the accounts and emailed a temporary password which has not worked. All of the Marketplace agents have been very polite and very helpful but have not been able to resolve the issue and their documentation is incomplete and in many cases incorrect. As an example, after all efforts to resolve the problem failed they told me to create a new account using the same email address registered with the original account assuring me that the new account would be able to access the information in the old account. This didn't work with an error message advising me that you can not use the same email address for 2 accounts. Another agent told me to create a new account with a different email address and then, after logging in with the new credentials, to use the 'find my application' link which also did not work.

The bottom line is that when open season begins that there may be millions of people not able to access their accounts and the help desk will be buried with login problems.