Michael “Walton” Mulroy is an intern at Lobo Institute and an undergraduate student at the University of Montana studying Political Science with a concentration in International Relations & Comparative Politics. He is also in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves as a Reconnaissance Marine at 4th Force Reconnaissance Company, Alameda, California. He previously interned in the U.S. Senate and had the privilege of attending schools in Athens, Greece, Nairobi, Kenya, and Kampala, Uganda.
Political risk vs. risk to force: How policy decisions impact risk and capability in partner operations
Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) is the U.S. military’s name for the international intervention to defeat ISIS in Syria and Iraq starting in 2014. While OIR has been a success, it has necessarily been imperfect. Throughout the campaign, cost-benefit calculations made by policymakers led to missed opportunities and possibly a longer conflict. These decisions will have lasting repercussions that could undermine the hard-won victory against ISIS, as well as the ability to partner in future interventions. In particular, the United States mishandled its partner relationships in the war to defeat ISIS. Political considerations apparently won out against supporting and sustaining the SDF, our military partner forces.
