The Obama Administration must intervene more in Iraq and Syria.

As President Barack Obama considers asking Congress for approval to intervene in the Middle East, again, tens of thousands of people are living in terror of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The terrorist group has brutalized and murdered thousands, and must be stopped. The U.S. cannot allow the killing to continue with a clean conscience.

Some suggest that the issue be put on the backburner until America solves its internal issues, like health care, immigration and the aftermath of racial unrest in Ferguson, Mo. 

While these problems are significant, the Obama Administration must weigh the costs of its hesitation to act in the Middle East.

By providing more help to the oppressed and terrorized religious minorities in Iraq and Syria, Obama will not be abandoning American needs. 

If the U.S. further intervenes, many Americans fear that the entirety of the government’s energy and attention will channel into this situation.

However, this fear is illogical, for the president’s administration is comprised of a multitude of offices that will still focus on their specific duties. 

For example, the U.S. government’s involvement in Syria will not hinder the Office of National Drug Control Policy from working to improve the country internally.

Other opponents of American involvement in the ISIS crisis urge Obama to stop airstrikes, believing that the terrorist group will continue to kill Americans like James Foley and Steven Sotloff if military interference continues. 

This logic exalts the lives of Americans over the religious minorities being slaughtered by ISIS. 

While Foley and Sotloff’s deaths deserve attention and mourning, they should not be magnified over the thousands of civilian deaths in Iraq and Syria.

While opponents of U.S. intervention in the Middle East encourage the American government to withhold further help, their beliefs are flawed. 

Most claims opposing intervention are based on skewed assumptions about the different roles of the American government in the country, and the exaltation of American lives over the lives of those terrorized by ISIS. Intervention is vital to maintain both US humanism and foreign affairs.