Thus The Wall Street Journal today. “America’s top military officer raised the prospect that limited US ground forces would be needed to battle militants if fighting in Iraq grows more difficult,” explains the newspaper. In other words, airstrikes announced by Barack Obama might not be enough. Most Americans are opposed to this sort of engagement far from home, and the top military officer thus came to Obama’s help ahead of time. Indeed, fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria from the air only is not likely to go very far. ISIS appears to be quite nimble on the ground, and it is likely to survive many an airstrike. Besides, ground forces are a must when going gets tough. Which is why the new announcement cleverly insists on “limited” numbers. The way the American electorate is turning as of late, the Pentagon will soon have to guarantee no deaths in possible military engagements. After so many debacles abroad over so many decades, isolationism is back. And in earnest. It will take no less than another Pearl Harbor to turn the electorate around one more time.