The Buddha has a good line about evil.

He says to not think lightly of it, or think “it will not come to me.” Because “drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the fool, gathering it little by little, fills himself with evil.”

Is the United States military, drop by drop, making the evil — ISIS (the Islamic State, ISIL, IS, Daesh) — go away? Or is it collecting in a water pot to eventually be full and turn into a full-blown war — like the ones we saw not long ago in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Monday’s announcement by U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter could support this. Or, it could backup a smart, strategic plan that will help avoid large scale escalations in the region, and rid the world of ISIS without starting a global conflict costing thousands if not millions of coalition lives.

Ready or not, here it is, via NBC News:

The United States will send 217 more troops, including additional special operations forces, to Iraq to expand a train-and-advise effort there to help government forces fight ISIS, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Monday morning.

The Iraqis have also accepted America’s offer of Apache attack helicopters and an additional HIMAR rocket system as they prepare to try to retake the city of Mosul from the terror group, Carter said.

The move will boost the total number of U.S. troops in Iraq to 4,087, a senior U.S. military official said.

The United States will also contribute $415 million to the Peshmerga, a Kurdish military group.

The announcement came as Carter visited Iraq as part of a swing through the Middle East in which he also asked allies in the region to help in the effort to rebuild parts of Iraq destroyed during the war with ISIS.

In addition to the troops who — let’s not kid ourselves — are being sent to be “on the ground” in Iraq (along with thousands of others everyday — estimates have put it somewhere around 4,000) the White House and the Pentagon are leading coalition airstrikes in the territories dominated by the terror organization and attempting to throw a big fat monkey wrench into the gears of their financial operation.

While in Baghdad, Carter will meet with Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland who leads the fight against ISIS. He’ll also get together with Iraqi leaders — Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and and his equivalent, Khalid al-Obeidi. Carter will have a phone chat with the prez of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish population, Massoud Barzani.