Jun 19, 2015 4 min read

Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States and abroad as compiled by the Associated Press:

President Obama insists he has no plans to deploy U.S. combat forces in Iraq, even as he promised to “degrade and eventually destroy” the Islamic State. The White House sees no contradiction between these two commitments, but Americans are understandably anxious given the incremental escalation of U.S. involvement in the war against the group.

Last week, Obama announced he was sending an additional 450 military personnel to “train, advise and assist” Iraqi forces at a military base in eastern Anbar province. That deployment will increase the U.S. military presence to 3,550.

The Los Angeles Times supported the administration’s more assertive policy with two provisos: that Obama abide by his promise not to deploy U.S. ground troops, and that he secure explicit congressional authorization. Obama asked for such authority, but he undermined the urgency of that request by insisting he can legally prosecute a war against Islamic State under the congressional resolutions passed more than a decade ago to authorize force against the planners of 9/11 and the regime of Saddam Hussein. It’s vital that Congress enact a new Authorization for Use of Military Force tailored to Islamic State, one that explicitly rules out the deployment of U.S. ground forces.

Obama is right both to try to defeat Islamic State and to do it without putting U.S. troops on the front lines. As he said in September: “This is not our fight alone. American power can make a decisive difference, but we cannot do for Iraqis what they must do for themselves, nor can we take the place of Arab partners in securing their region.” Nothing that happened since changed that fundamental reality.

West Virginia has a new tool for fighting drug addiction.

Legislation that was passed in last winter’s session allows the Department of Health and Human Resources to use a FDA-approved, non-addicting drug to help keep addicts from relapsing.

The drug, Vivitrol, is reportedly long-lasting and is used in conjunction with psychosocial support.

We have long advocated the use of alternative treatment over putting drug-abusing offenders in jail or on probation without the backup needed to help them beat their addictions. Today’s new treatment appears to be what the doctor ordered.

This treatment is another step in the right direction – along with recent crackdowns on “pill mill” clinic and stepped up efforts by law enforcement – in helping rid the state of the drug-abuse scourge.

Getting more people off drugs is the key to getting people back to work and off of public assistance. The fewer addicts, the more chance we have of diversifying the economy and boosting our workforce numbers.

There is something less obvious but deep-rooted within us that makes us so fascinated – or should we say spellbound – by dinosaurs. “Jurassic World” broke U.S. and global opening weekend box-office records by earning $205 million in North America and $512 million worldwide.

Dinosaurs ruled the earth for 165 million years, adopting different shapes, sizes and forms for survival and scripting what scientists believe to be the most unqualified success in the history of life on this planet. Humans have been here only about 25,000 years, just 0.12 per cent of the time dinosaurs were around.

As our fascination with dinosaurs continues, there is one aspect of their existence we can explore and understand better – what made dinosaurs, the most dominant of all species, become extinct? Though there is no proven theory, as we demolish natural resources, we have to wonder if a similar fate awaits us. That’s a bigger-than-$512-million question.