Military So ISIS & the Middle East

They tried, they are not the sharpest knives in the drawer.

That is the current irrational fear in America and Europe. And I am sure they will try this, but AQ and other islamists have been trying this for many years. The only real success has been a couple of rather dim Russians who only managed to kill a few people. That is why we have the FBI and Homeland Security. They have handled this quite well.

You can bet that ISIS' primary aim is to take over Syria and Iraq and establish a caliphate. The anti-American rhetoric is mostly for recruiting. They are fighting and taking casualties every day, their logistics are tenuous and vulnerable, they have no powerful allies, and their financial supporters in other Arab countries are backing away from them. They are not only appalled at the ethnic cleansing and beheadings, but they fear that ISIS will export the jihad to them. America is far away, powerful, and has a military presence on their turf. The rest of the middle east is close, militarily weak, and subject to an jihadist insurgency.

The major campaign that the war hawks are encouraging Obama to start. You mentioned that you have heard the worries coming from Europe already and the moderate Arab states are worried, too. Not to mention Turkey, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Iraq, and Jordan which border the "Islamic State" that ISIS seeks. You can't have missed that the aforementioned countries did not even protest the Israeli action against Hamas. Radical jihadism threatens a lot of countries in the region.

Obama is already talking with other countries. Don't expect another Gulf War massive army, it will more likely be an economic strangulation and military attrition conducted with airpower and SOF.

 

The problem with the Koran is that it is full of contradictory messages. You can find one that supports almost anything.

 

Sure. But it has been possible all along and other radical groups have tried. But there has not been all that much of it. It is a law enforcement problem, not a foreign war problem. It is important not to take council of our fears and overreact. Just 10 years ago we made the biggest political, economic, and military blunder in our history when some believed that we must invade Iraq because they were tied to Al Qaeda and they had weapons of mass destruction, neither of which were true.

It is important to remember that much of their territory is uninhabitable desert. Their "country" is actually the worst pieces of two other countries. Landlocked surrounded by adversaries, three of which they are at war with, logistical problems, humanitarian problems, the worst international relations in the world and now they taunt The Superpower and the Israeli Regional Power.

Becasue we can't trust the Iraqi army to protect US diplomatic personnel any more. They are completely infiltrated by ISIS.

They have been fitting fiercely with Syrians, Hezbollah, Al-Nusra rebels, the Iraqi Army and the Kurds in addition to US airpower. They are taking casualties. They can lose a war of attrition.

Every country in Europe has muslims, there are millions of them. France has had bombings, riots and enacted new laws that are anti-Islam. Germany is filled with Turkish and other muslim workers. Denmark is under fatwa for political cartoons. Eastern Europe is and should be their focus, but they all have a big stake in muslim politics and middle eastern terrorism.

The Saudi government is not funding ISIS but some wealthy Saudis and Gulf States sheiks are sending private money. They must shut that down and be prepared to fight. We saved them from convention military invasion from Iraq. It is unlikely that we will intervene in a Saudi insurgency or a guerrilla war with ISIS unless the heavily equipped and trained-up Saudi military steps up and fights for itself. They did a piss-poor job in 1991.

 

I'm retired, brainiac. I work when I want to.

You have to have a harder shell than this if you are going to play with the boys. V-ball and yourself are the only females since Okie that can take the daily hardball around here without people having to pull their punches. Don't start crying now.

The key term, that you missed, is "international agenda" -- Al Qaeda, Islamic Jihad, AQAP, about 5,000 of them, look it up. The point is that most radical jihadists have a local agenda. The 15,000 ISIL fighters, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Taliban, Al Shabaab, etc. We must be aware of who among the radical rags is a threat to us and who is somebody else's problem.

Your confusion of terrorists with an agenda of attacking the USA with the radical middle eastern groups that are fighting each other or other countries on their own turf is not...my... problem.

Actually studies show that is not true. But even if it were, they are not worth wasting American treasure or American lives upon. We can bankrupt ourselves with this kind of feel-good action. On the other hand, if we focus on the true threats and forget the billions of muslims out there, we can defeat the only ones that matter.

That phrase is an old joke around here because a former member used it all the time in mostly inappropriate situations. I forget that you are kind of new to FSA. It means I was fucking with you with that nazi remark.

I am all for ruthless action against the goddam perpetrators. Not against all the people in the middle east because I dislike their fucking religion.

It solves no problems and creates more! That is why it is a silly fantasy. Get. Real.

If you are afraid to be challenged, then why are you debating in Free Speech Alley?