America only recently left Iraq a few years ago and in that time frame we have seen the rise of ISIS.  With the entire region in disarray trying to deal with ISIS and how to fight them US troops may end up in Iraq and the Middle East in some capacity to help fight and contain the threat of ISIS.  As the fight against the Islamic State seems to have come to a standstill President Obama has been pressured to increase American military presence and involvement.  The recent involvement of Russia and its apparent targeting of US backed rebel groups only adds to the dangerous mixture and time constraint to fix the problem, if America waits too long with Russia’s help Assad could regain control of Syria.  This problem went from simply being a Middle East conflict into a power play between two world powers.  Over the past few months Obama has been meeting with his military advisors to discuss his options, ranging from moving forward with boots on the ground, establishing a no fly zone, continued training of Iraqi soldiers, small strategic strikes against ISIS with US special forces in conjunction with Iraqi security forces etc.  All the options at the president’s disposal shows the expanded role of the branch has acquired over time.  Go back a hundred years no one would believe the president could basically start a war around the world without the approval or even a vote by congress. I personally hate the idea of the president wielding such power as this.  I understand in times of crisis, such as America being attacked, the president would have to use the military without congress but for actions like this congress must be involved.  We wonder why people around consider America to be a bully this is why.  We act unilaterally and without a lot of help.  Recently Obama has done better with forming coalitions to deal with international crises but recently America has been taking a larger role as it considers devoting combat troops.  How can America champion democracy when we have presidents who are so apt to use force instead of negotiating in instances, granted the problems with ISIS would not be able to be solved with diplomacy.

Source

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-weighs-moving-us-troops-closer-to-front-lines-in-syria-iraq/2015/10/26/4ae2f36c-7bec-11e5-b575-d8dcfedb4ea1_story.html