Military So ISIS & the Middle East

That is not the case.

"ISIS militants took full control of a western Iraqi town early Friday, security officials told CNN, bringing them within a few miles of an air base housing U.S. military personnel.

The extremist group took al-Baghdadi, west of Ramadi, and now they're closing in on the strategic Ayn al-Assad Air Base, only about 15 kilometers (9 miles) away, the security officials said.....That western front is just one of many where ISIS forces are on the move....
ISIS attacked Peshmerga fighters in Sinjar on Thursday, as well as Kurdish forces positioned north of Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, and the town of Ba'shiqa, east of Mosul.

But it's in Iraq's west where ISIS militants have the momentum over the Iraqi army and Sunni tribesmen opposing them.....
The ISIS fighters seized Al-Baghdadi, northwest of the capital of Baghdad, on Friday after attacking from three directions against Iraqi government forces, the security officials told CNN.

Ayn al-Assad, the largest military base in western Anbar province still under government control, is also where U.S. instructors train Iraqi pilots.

Already, the air base is taking sporadic indirect fire from militants using rocket launchers and mortars, the officials said.

Two security officials in the Anbar provincial office told CNN that security forces inside Ayn al-Assad killed eight suicide bombers Friday who were trying to breach the air base's perimeter from the direction of Al-Baghdadi."

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/13/middleeast/isis-iraq/index.html

 

Our side is a meaningless term in this. The ME is in a long term process of change and there are so many sides in play that what we do for one group or to another will have little real effect. This IS NOT a shot at the president or any of his policies. No one from FDR to RR to Bill Clinton to GHW Bush could find and implement a policy that would have permanent effect.
This is on the ME peoples and the Muslims to work out and it will take generations. As I've noted before the ME and much of the Muslim world is trapped somewhere in the 12th century culturally. Yes they use modern tools and can use them well. Yes many can speak like they are in the 21st century but too few are. This includes our so called allies the Sunni Saudi et al. They are ruled by a tribal culture where smaller family/tribal loyalties out weigh long term best interest of the region and religion.
There has long been a seething resentment in this part of the world. The Turks suppressed any growth till they fell at the end of WWI. The Cold War did the same as both the USA client states and the Russian client states continued to support suppression/oppression of any development.
I believe the Russian invasion of Afghanistan was the opening of this Pandora's box. The Saudis and USA gave arms and training to the corp of those who are causing the chaos today. Most of all it gave them hope that they could succeed.
So now there is a means to destroy the old regime. We have seem it all over the ME and I believe it will consume the Saudis and the Iranians as well.
As I noted earlier there are so many faces and favors of people and ideologies in the mix that none have the means to make themselves the one who mold society. You have the AQ/ ISIS type crazies, the modernists, the old guard, Sunnis and Shia all fighting for the heart and soul of the "Arab" world. It will take decades and millions dead before they figure it out.
I've come to believe that our best option it to try to contain it, try to support and encourage those most desirous of joining the 21st century and selectively slapping down the worst of the bunch as we can. I'm not for boots on the ground either as 'combat' or 'trainers'. Training should be done outside and support for modernists be done vigorously but quietly. Also we should do our best to place a cordon around the area and prevent the virus from escaping.
We are doing some of that but we (no none either R or D) seem to grasp that there will be such a transformation that the ME as we knew it will never be the same. We also need to recognize it is the people of the ME who will decide what they become. We can help a little but expect to honor whatever it is they decide their culture will be likeEXCEPT if the crazy savages who want to export their hate and violence outside of their area.
I believe that in the long run the ME and Muslims will choose to live more like we do in the USA than in ancient Egypt. It will take patience flexibility and intelligence over many years and administrations to see this through.

 

Can I ask everyone something? If Jordan and UAE are bombing the shit out of them, isn't sitting back and aiding them a smart thing to do? Why waste american lives?

 

Shit if both @red55 and @Tiger in NC like my post I need to rethink what I wrote.LOL

 

This is our newest strategy Winston.....see how well it's working? LOL....it was a very thorough and objective post.

 

Now Egypt is bombing them. This is great.

 

Completely agree.

 

"ISIS is under pressure in parts of Iraq and battling a variety of adversaries in Syria, but it's metastasizing at warp speed elsewhere, most dangerously in Egypt and Libya.

It also has support in Yemen, Afghanistan and Pakistan. And the leader of the group ravaging northern Nigeria, Boko Haram, has expressed his admiration of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The savage killing of 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya -- all of them dressed in ISIS' trademark orange prison garb -- is another indication of ISIS' ability to take advantage of collapsed or collapsing states and of its growing presence in North Africa."
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/16/africa/isis-libya-north-africa/index.html

It's not about desperation. They are psychotic and envision a world war as confirming their agenda as the end of days. "The mistake some make when viewing ISIS is to see it as a rational actor. Instead, as the magazine documents, its ideology is that of an apocalyptic cult that believes that we are living in the end times and that ISIS' actions are hastening the moment when this will happen."
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/16/opinion/bergen-isis-enemies/index.html