The real concern with the strike on Khorasan is the policy, not some conspiracy.
The strikes on Khorasan were separate and distinct from the strikes on IS in Syria. The justification given for the strikes on IS are the tenuous "collective defense." The tortured logic is that Iraq asked us to help them fight IS because they are incapable. But, they are also incapable of crossing the border into Syria to attack them, so, what the hell, have the US do that too. With respect to the IS attacks in Syria, the US is a for-hire, for-profit air force.
The attacks on Khorasan are different. They had not attacked or threatened to attack Iraq. They are not part of IS, so cannot be targeted under that same rationale. Our bombing in Syria (a country which we did not ask for or receive permission from) of Khorasan is another animal. It is pre-emptive bombing of would-be terrorists. It is an act of war in a sovereign country without an immediate threat. And, it is now our policy. We will bomb anyone, anywhere. Not in response to an attack. Not to stop an attack. But to kill those who might be planning an attack, who may one day be able to attack us. And, there will be more countries where we do just that.
div class="excerpt"](I)n the Muslim world right now, there is a cancer that has grown for too long that suggests that it is acceptable to kill innocent people who worship a different God. And that kind of extremism, unfortunately, means that we're going to see for some time the possibility that in a whole bunch of different countries, radical groups may spring up, particularly in countries that are still relatively fragile, where you had sectarian tensions, where you don't have a strong state security apparatus.
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(T)he beginning of a solution for the entire Middle East is going to be a transformation in how these countries teach their youth. What our military operations can do is to just check and roll back these networks as they appear and make sure that the time and space is provided for a new way of doing things to begin to take root. But it's going to take some time.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-obama-60-minutes/
