Everything Is Fine. (Everything Is Not Fine.)

[Content Note: Terrorism; war.]

Courtney Kube at NBC News: U.S. May Begin Airstrikes Against ISIS in Philippines.

The Pentagon is considering a plan that allows the U.S. military to conduct airstrikes on ISIS in the Philippines, two defense officials told NBC News.

The authority to strike ISIS targets as part of collective self-defense could be granted as part of an official military operation that may be named as early as Tuesday, said the officials. The strikes would likely be conducted by armed drones.

If approved, the U.S. military would be able to conduct strikes against ISIS targets in the Philippines that could be a threat to allies in the region, which would include the Philippine forces battling ISIS on the ground in the country's southern islands.

This news is alarming for a number of reasons, not least of which is the concern Fannie raised in her piece this morning: "A lesson from George W. Bush's presidency, then, is that a security crisis can confer legitimacy to a President who begins his term lacking it. And, the people will hunker down and rally behind an undeserving leader during a scary time, out of a sense of fear, loyalty, and nationalism. History shows that bad leaders will squander this trust, rather than accepting it with responsibility and grace."

There's also this: How can we be sure that we're not merely participating in Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's extrajudicial killings of people he doesn't like? What guarantee do we have that Trump didn't promise precisely that to Duterte, given Trump's praise of his violent campaign and Trump's eagerness to look tough on terrorism?

This is very worrying.