The attacks in Brussels this week have prompted renewed calls to increase pressure on the terror group ISIS, who have claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The United States has seen 14 years of sustained combat in and out of the Middle East, but for General Martin Dempsey, retired chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, this is not even half of the time he believes it will take to provide stability.
"We're probably about 10 years into a 30-year campaign to restore some level of stability to the Middle East," said Gen. Dempsey in the first interview he has given since retiring six months ago.
Dempsey saw the rise of ISIS, Syria devolve into an exodus of refugees into Europe, and the destabilization of the entire region.
The rise of ISIS as not only a substate actor, but also as a brand and an exporter of an increasingly violent ideology across the globe is one of the factors in his rationale. Gen. Dempsey sees progress in fits and starts, but stresses the need of not only strong U.S. involvement but of strong global cooperation to stem that region's violence.
"The worst possible outcome would be 30 one-year campaigns instead of one 30-year campaign," he says.
International coordination and coalition building is the only way he sees sustainable progress in that region, but even then deciding what the preferred outcomes are paramount.
Gen. Dempsey will be speaking at Trinity University Wednesday night at 7:30 PM at the Laurie Auditorium.
Guest:
- Gen. Martin Dempsey, ret. former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
