Iraq in state of emergency - Mosul overrun by militants; government flees;

[clouseau]

That's the full length version of the 5 part documentary Vice has been running on IS over the past week. It is an absolute must-watch, and will probably change your opinion of IS. They're like nothing we have seen. This is not some disorganized band of shitheads. I don't think the word "terrorist" applies to them anymore. They are a rogue state at this point. A few 500lb bombs and some MREs will do nothing to even slow them down. We're going to have to decide if we want to fully engage with them (total war) or stay out of it. Half measures will do nothing.

Perhaps the History channel should show informative stuff like this instead of the mind numbing bullshit they show now and one more thing and that is it looks like an individual or individuals forgot to take their daily cup of STFU in relation to a rescue op for the journalist who was murdered his week .

[B52gator]

"Some people just want to watch the world burn"

[waveshaper]

These muzzies (ISIS) are as bad as the Mongol hordes. They haven't evolved at all in the last 1,400 years. Slow learners need a strong pimp hand but we should administer this dose of punishment primarily with Airpower.

Prepare for some strange bedfellows as a coalition "hopefully" forms to confront/defeat ISIS.

[chim richalds]

How strange we gettin? Red flag with Syria/Iran next week? I swear big Islam is getting kickback from defense contractors, can we ever be done dealing with this crowd?

[Clark Griswold]

Not for letting IS survive but maybe, just letting Sykes-Picot dissolve is a better long term strategy, if we have one in the ME...

Imagining a Remapped Middle East

Letting go of Sykes-Picot

An enclave strategy for Iraq

I am sure this would all happen in an orderly, bloodless fashion with no conflicts over land, natural resources or former national assets but instead of keeping nations drawn up 100 years ago by two former colonial powers, letting the ethnic / religious sects self-organize would make the region only smolder as opposed to the usual raging inferno.

Edited August 22, 2014 by Clark Griswold

[Sparky]

Not to shabby of a "reply"

From the reply.

“As I sit here constantly hearing and watching you execute innocent men, women and children in the Middle East I chuckle. Why do I chuckle you may ask? Well let me explain something to you cowardice fools who think you are so tough behind all your propaganda videos. You are scaring a population that doesn’t know how to fight, you’re bullying the weak.

You say Islam is the religion of peace, but since when does terrorizing the innocent and beheading men, women and children constitute peace? WTF? But keep in mind, what did Saddam’s troops do when we came rolling into town? They surrendered, twice… So all your empty threats of coming to America and raising your flag over the White House amuse me more than any of you sick, sadistic bastards could ever imagine or comprehend.

In 2012 there was about 21.2 million veterans in the United States. Do you understand what that means? Let me break it down for you. That means there are literally millions of disgruntled, dysfunctional, pissed off veterans who have been dealing with years of abuse from their government stabbing them in the backs and having to watch their friends die because you Islamic extremist idiots can’t seem to act like normal human beings and stop terrorism and the violence.

It’s one thing to take over an Islamic state, but if my memory serves me correctly, I’m pretty sure we plowed through Fallujah in 4 days. Better yet, it took us about month to control your entire country. At this point, with 13+ years of war under our belts, how long do you think it would take us to do it all over again? I’ll let you draw your own conclusions on that one. Do you really think you stand a chance on US soil? Do you really think it would be smart to poke that bear? Remember, never bite the hand that feeds you.

Remember we are armed to the teeth in the US and I can promise you this… the Geneva Conventions will not apply to you. You attack us and there will be no mercy. We will bring the righteous hand of God down upon you and crush you. The ball is in your court now ISIS. We are more than ready to arrange your so called “meeting” with your 72 virgins and send you to your “prophet” Mohamed.”

– Nick Powers

[zach braff]

That response is "meh" at best. Pretty weak comparing Saddam's troops that quickly ran and surrendered to IS troops. The two have completely different motivations. Hint - the latter's motivations are quite stronger than the average Saddam foot soldier.

zb

[Champ Kind]

Can we please just stop transitioning from one Middle Eastern cesspool to another?

[Clark Griswold]

In what universe is this a possibility? You'd be laughed out of the room for suggesting this in a serious policy discussion.

West poised to join forces with President Assad in face of Islamic State

"The US has already covertly assisted the Assad government by passing on intelligence about the exact location of jihadi leaders through the BND, the German intelligence service, a source has told The Independent. This may explain why Syrian aircraft and artillery have been able on occasion to target accurately rebel commanders and headquarters"

More help for Asad is a good thing for a bad situation. Not the defacto recognition of his government as the legitimate (albeit evil) government of Syria that I think would be the least bad option but maybe the Euros can go first and then we follow, with the eventual rout of ISIS thru airstrikes and support to allies on the ground. I am sure that a liberal Jeffersonian democracy will immediately flourish there after that but ANYTHING is better than ISIS.

Edited August 23, 2014 by Clark Griswold

[MD]

West poised to join forces with President Assad in face of Islamic State

"The US has already covertly assisted the Assad government by passing on intelligence about the exact location of jihadi leaders through the BND, the German intelligence service, a source has told The Independent. This may explain why Syrian aircraft and artillery have been able on occasion to target accurately rebel commanders and headquarters"

More help for Asad is a good thing for a bad situation. Not the defacto recognition of his government as the legitimate (albeit evil) government of Syria that I think would be the least bad option but maybe the Euros can go first and then we follow, with the eventual rout of ISIS thru airstrikes and support to allies on the ground. I am sure that a liberal Jeffersonian democracy will immediately flourish there after that but ANYTHING is better than ISIS.

I would certainly hope we're not so stupid as to be supporting Assad, at the same time we're helping arm the Syrian "rebels" who are anything but.

When did Assad become such the bad guy? Syria was an ally and partner during Desert Storm. Same question goes for Libya......Khadafi wasn't any kind of threat anymore and had really throttled back, yet there was some immense need all of a sudden to depose him. Look what that's gotten us.

[Clark Griswold]

I would certainly hope we're not so stupid as to be supporting Assad, at the same time we're helping arm the Syrian "rebels" who are anything but.

When did Assad become such the bad guy? Syria was an ally and partner during Desert Storm. Same question goes for Libya......Khadafi wasn't any kind of threat anymore and had really throttled back, yet there was some immense need all of a sudden to depose him. Look what that's gotten us.

Yep - pick a side and then go all in. The FSA and various other Syrian rebel groups are just not plausible replacements for the government of Al-Asad, we all know that and the West just has to admit that now.

Condition the recognition and support on a few realistic points and then turn all the guns on ISIS.

- Amnesty for the FSA and other "reasonable" rebel factions, Jihadists movements are excluded.

- International Stabilization Forces in areas are retaken by the Syrian Military. Probably a 5 year mission

- Long term human rights monitoring following cessation of hostilities, long term aid conditioned on basic human rights respected but no interference with Syrian politics post-conflict. Probably about a 10 year mission.

- Truth commission following cessation of hostilities.

You end the Syrian Civil War, you totally defeat the most currently powerful Jihadist movement i the world and you probably open the door to dealing more effectively with rogue states.

A 180 on Syria by the West will prove that we are not so hard headed that we can't make a deal when the facts change on the ground to something we did not want. Like it or not, we have to deal with these countries and doing business with them is a helluva lot easier than just saying if you are not with me then you are my enemy. Absolute positions (usually) are for idiots.

[Majestik Møøse]

I propose a Foreign Exclusion Zone encompassing Syria, Iraq, Iran, Aghanistan, and Pakistan. It'll essentially be a regional cage match bounded by well armed countries that (more or less) have their shit together like Jordan, Israel, KSA, Oman, India, and the former USSR.

No one is allowed in or out of the FEZ. Then the Shia, Sunnis, Kurds, Pashtuns, Persians, Pakistanis et al sort it out. Sykes-Picot is out the window and the belligerents redraw their own borders. The extremists want to start suicide bombing? It's up to the local populace to crush their nuts. Pakistan wants to nuke everyone? Go for it, it's on them. Once the new borders reach some sort of equilibrium and show they can behave like 20th century nations, they are welcome back into the global community.

[Homestar]

When did Assad become such the bad guy?

I think most people agree that WMD use on his own people was that point. A "red line" if you will.

Edited August 24, 2014 by Homestar

[Royal]

Here's a pretty good article by Patrick Cockburn on the current situation and its proliferation. I didn't know that 28 pages were left out of the 9/11 Report with regard to the attackers relationship to the Saudis. Splendid.

[waveshaper]

Here's a pretty good article by Patrick Cockburn on the current situation and its proliferation. I didn't know that 28 pages were left out of the 9/11 Report with regard to the attackers relationship to the Saudis. Splendid.

Good article.

The Iraq/Syria "Mess O' Potamia" policy experts (offenders/defenders) should be out in force on the Sunday news shows

giving their spin on who to blame and how to fix this CF. The current U.S. policy/position for Syria is that the Assad

regime must be deposed. Standby for "the mother of all U-turns" on some of the finer points of this policy.

[Skitzo]

West poised to join forces with President Assad in face of Islamic State

"The US has already covertly assisted the Assad government by passing on intelligence about the exact location of jihadi leaders through the BND, the German intelligence service, a source has told The Independent. This may explain why Syrian aircraft and artillery have been able on occasion to target accurately rebel commanders and headquarters"

More help for Asad is a good thing for a bad situation. Not the defacto recognition of his government as the legitimate (albeit evil) government of Syria that I think would be the least bad option but maybe the Euros can go first and then we follow, with the eventual rout of ISIS thru airstrikes and support to allies on the ground. I am sure that a liberal Jeffersonian democracy will immediately flourish there after that but ANYTHING is better than ISIS.

My enemy's enemy is my friend.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Clark Griswold]

Here's a pretty good article by Patrick Cockburn on the current situation and its proliferation. I didn't know that 28 pages were left out of the 9/11 Report with regard to the attackers relationship to the Saudis. Splendid.

Pretty good article, like the fact the author calls out the elephant in the room: the Saudis are funding source for the Sunni trans-national Islamic insurgency primarily and that it is a movement not an organization that we (the West and some Arabic governments) are fighting.

Letting go of some of these governments and hence the nations that the Sykes-Picot Agreement created may be a better long term strategy but the transition to something else may be long and hard to swallow (sts).

Already there is some buyer's remorse on the part of Syrian rebels.

To Syria’s Revolutionaries, Assad Isn’t Looking So Bad After All

My enemy's enemy is my friend.

2

Nixon went to China, we can change course too.

[Clark Griswold]

Nice girl.

British Woman Vows To Become First Female Jihadist To Kill American Or British Captive

[SurelySerious]

http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2014/08/islamic-states-own-photos-were-just-used-find-one-its-training-camps/92267/

Someone in the ISIS PA department wasn't current on their information protection CBT.

[waveshaper]

Syria welcomes "coordinated" international help in fighting IS.

http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-welcomes-coordinated-international-help-in-fighting-islamic-state/2427235.html

[MD]

I think most people agree that WMD use on his own people was that point. A "red line" if you will.

Hell, WMD use has been going on for everyone there and all sides.

Much like Capt Willard's narration regarding speeding tickets and the Indy 500.

Though its looking like the so-called rebels may have been setting up Assad to look like the WMD master.

Edited August 25, 2014 by MD

[Steve Davies]

Nice girl.

British Woman Vows To Become First Female Jihadist To Kill American Or British Captive

And there are plenty more where she came from, no doubt. This place is a haven for intolerance and racism, but only if you belong to an ethnic minority. If that's the case, no one will say a bad word about you. And, if you do, you're the one labelled 'racist'.

[MD]

And there are plenty more where she came from, no doubt. This place is a haven for intolerance and racism, but only if you belong to an ethnic minority. If that's the case, no one will say a bad word about you. And, if you do, you're the one labelled 'racist'.

Sounds like there is becoming just like here.

The two scumbags that knifed the Brit soldier to death in the street, should've gotten the same right there on the spot too.

Edited August 25, 2014 by MD

[Clark Griswold]

And there are plenty more where she came from, no doubt. This place is a haven for intolerance and racism, but only if you belong to an ethnic minority. If that's the case, no one will say a bad word about you. And, if you do, you're the one labelled 'racist'.

Yep - the West has a problem mainly caused by liberal left wing political / cultural activists that eschew and discourage assimilation. Nor do they let the simple question of "Are these people compatible with our society ?" be asked.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited August 26, 2014 by Clark Griswold

[backseatdriver]

I think most people agree that WMD use on his own people was that point. A "red line" if you will.

Gotta love how our conscious works in the West:

Kill almost 100,000 of your citizens using conventional means? No problem.

Gas 1,000? You've got to go.

Edited August 25, 2014 by backseatdriver