Military What was done is being undone...Iraq

Obama said, "If a J.V. team puts on Lakers' uniforms that doesn't make them Kobe Bryant" (January 2014). "[C]ore al Qaeda is on its heels, has been decimated" (August 2013). "So, let there be no doubt: The tide of war is receding (Sept 2011).

"The fall of the Iraqi cities of Fallujah, Tikrit, Mosul and Tel Afar, and the establishment of terrorist safe havens across a large swath of the Arab world, present a strategic threat to the security of the United States. Mr. Obama's actions—before and after ISIS's recent advances in Iraq—have the effect of increasing that threat.

On a trip to the Middle East this spring, we heard a constant refrain in capitals from the Persian Gulf to Israel, "Can you please explain what your president is doing?" "Why is he walking away?" "Why is he so blithely sacrificing the hard fought gains you secured in Iraq?" "Why is he abandoning your friends?" "Why is he doing deals with your enemies?"

In one Arab capital, a senior official pulled out a map of Syria and Iraq. Drawing an arc with his finger from Raqqa province in northern Syria to Anbar province in western Iraq, he said, "They will control this territory. Al Qaeda is building safe havens and training camps here. Don't the Americans care?"

I don't want boots on the ground either but to pretend what's going on has no potential for damage is unrealistic. And now we are contemplating a relationship with Iran to deal with Iraq?

 

what is your solution?

 

The solution is simple. Let them fight it out, while we sit on the sidelines. A second alternative, perhaps better, but a bit unlikely, is to take over the parts we want, secure what oil we want, and brutally kill all hostiles in our new state. Actually, I prefer option 2, but given the number of wimps, option one is the most likely positive scenario. As usual, in the mideast, there are a number, perhaps unlimited number, of scenarios that suck.

For all the yahoos that want air strikes, a) there is no intel, b) those folks all look the same from, you name it, 12,000 feet, and c) when the first pilot bails and gets captured, now that is gonna be ugly. I am not ready for that

Pass the popcorn, and I'll have a large diet coke!

 

That's funny, you call Red a liberal Sean Hannity when all of his positions are mostly center right and you talk about credibility in a paragraph below. Keep typing please, it's humorous.

It's fucking sickening that the loudest people in this country, the ones with the voice (not the majority by any means) have shifted so far to the right that moderates seem like crazy liberals to them. Unreal.

 

This has be a curiosity of mine. The country is pretty close to even on national elections. However, Fox News is by far the highest rated cable news channel. Rush Limbaugh is the highest rated political talk radio. Liberal radio has failed and MSNBC is a struggling network. But these days the Democrats get elected.

It is my personal experience that most people favor a more understanding approach to social issues, i.e. abortion and gay rights, while most people favor a more conservative approach on economic issues. Maybe it is the social issues that what makes people vote.