What to do about ISIS (a.k.a. ISIL, Islamic State)

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Bill Glasheen
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What to do about ISIS (a.k.a. ISIL, Islamic State)

Post by Bill Glasheen »

In a few short months, a group of Sunni Muslims called by ISIS, ISIL, or Islamic State have taken a large swath of territory that encompasses much of northern Syria and northern Iraq. Their dream is to establish an Islamic caliphate from which they profess to wage jihad on the rest of the world. The goal is clear - convert to their interpretation of Islam or be killed. The long-run strategy is to attack "infidel" countries outside of their short-term dream of a regional Islamic caliphate.

How have they achieved so much in such little time?
  • The leader, Mr. Baghdadi, was once a prisoner from Operation Iraqi Freedom. When Obama let him go (he's the Commander in Chief, and it was done on his time), Mr. Baghdadi promised to "See you in New York." He went from prisoner to leader in a very short period of time.
    ....
  • Much of the start of this was through a civil war in Syria, where myriad groups are attempting to overthrow al Assad.
    ....
  • Revenue is generated from ransom money through kidnappings, blackmailing local businesses (the old "protection money" deal we once knew in 1930s Chicago), capturing and looting banks, and capturing oil fields.
    ....
  • Much of the weaponry that isn't bought outright is captured from fleeing, poorly-trained Iraqi troops left to fend for themselves in the absence of a U.S./Iraq agreement on the role of U.S. forces from this point forward.
    ....
  • Communication and PR is modern and slick. They use Facebook, Twitter, etc., etc.
    ....
  • Leadership is very much distributed. Mr. Baghdadi gives the vision and the orders, and recruits whomever to execute on the vision. Thus if you kill the head, much of the organization still exists.
Behavior modification is done via abject terror. Many who wouldn't cooperate were killed and buried. Beheadings were popular. Christian and minority religious groups who have existed peacefully in Iraq for many centuries were chased off their land if they refused to convert and join. Mass graves have been discovered in multiple sites.

Actually this is deja vu for Iraq. Saddam Hussein used similar terror tactics on his people to keep them in line. Shia in the south were slaughtered en masse. Kurds in the north were gassed with chemical weapons. People not in favor of the group from Tikrit were tortured and sometimes killed. Etc., etc.

Al Assad likely isn't any more a saint.

So.... Here are my questions. And don't worry... I don't expect there to be a right answer. (I do however expect smartaleck answers from one usual suspect.) Let's try to be civil, and try to enlighten.

1) What caused all this?

2) Do you blame anyone or not?

3) If you were the leader, what would you do?

Thanks in advance.

- Bill
fivedragons
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Re: What to do about ISIS (a.k.a. ISIL, Islamic State)

Post by fivedragons »

The antithesis of the "western" ideal. Reminds me of the inquisition. We will see how effective fear is in recruiting people to a cause. Maybe the last dying throes of a false spirituality that lives on control. More of the same hypocrisy of the ages, makes me want to pick up a machine gun.
fivedragons
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Re: What to do about ISIS (a.k.a. ISIL, Islamic State)

Post by fivedragons »

P.S. Islam and Christianity exist on a higher plane than the ##### heads who use it as a political power.
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Van Canna
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Re: What to do about ISIS (a.k.a. ISIL, Islamic State)

Post by Van Canna »

Bill,

You might enjoy this article.

http://blog.suarezinternational.com/201 ... BMIEix0yg1
Very few Americans study any history at all. It is as if they think that the only history of any importance is their own short history. But that is a shame because much of what we are seeing today was born hundreds of years ago, and the motivations of the players back then very much motivate the players today...even if the politicians fail to see it.

Islam has been attempting to overthrow the western world since the 7th century. Nothing has changed. They want the entire world under their thumb. Their world is the world which is submissive to Islam. Anything outside their world is the world of the Infidel...that is us. It is nothing new. One may even say it is "history".

Today marks the anniversary of September the 11th, 2001. I think we could say without doubt that this date has had the greatest profound effect on the western world since Pearl Harbor. But in 1954, nobody was worried about Nazis anymore, and the Japanese military machine had been ground into dust. Back in those days nobody worried world opinion as acres of urban Europe were bombed into rubble. Yes...those places still frown at Americans. It seems we had no reluctance to push around those we had defeated and force them to do our bidding.

So shift now...to 2014...thirteen years after the modern Pearl Harbor. Same? Or not same? Oh sure, we hear of the spread of democracy and of nation building and people voting. What we don't hear about is how there is no more terrorism, no more beheadings, no more...oh, never mind.

Anyway...the dates of the attack on the Twin Towers...or the "What Difference Does It make" Benghazi fiasco are no more coincidental than parades on July 4th.

The Islamic terrorist as a culture, has a long memory. It was in 1683, on this date that the Polish Warrior King Jan Sobieski defeated the Moors (that was what they called them in those days in addition to a few other things I imagine) at the gates of Vienna.

The fight had gone on for many months. By September, the city was in desperate conditions, and its fall was imminent. When the dead bodies stacked up on the corner start to look apetizing, you know you are in dire situations. The 150 year goal of the Al Queda of the day, Ottoman Sultans, to seize Vienna and use it as a spring-board for Muslim expansion deep into Europe was almost within their grasp. Let me restate that...the Islamic Terrorists of the day wanted to take over Europe.

In early September, a relief force was coming to the city’s aid. This coalition force consisted of 47,000 troops from Austrian and Holy Roman Empire (Germans) led by Charles Duke of Lorraine; and a Polish army some 37,000 strong, led by King Jan Sobieski. Most notable were Sobieski's "direct action" team - some 3,000 Hussars.

The Islamic army attacked the relief force, resulting in 12 hours of intense infantry combat before Sobieski saw that the time was right to mount an all-or-nothing counter attack. The moment of decision was at hand. Sobieski led a desperate charge of 20,000 Polish and German cavalry, the largest cavalry charge in history, with Sobieski himself and 3000 hussars at the head of the charge.

The Muslim lines crumbled, and the hussars pressed into the Muslim camps killing everything in sight. The Islamic army retreated and abandoned their attempts to conquer Europe...for the moment Sobieski, the warrior poet, declared as he stood on the battlefield, "Veni, vidi, Deus vicit".

I came, I saw, God conquered.

As we commemorate the date, and recall the heroes that died...and the victims...let us also recall men like Sobieski, and take his example to heart. Some people and some cultures, we will never be able to live in peace with. That is a sad fact, but a fact illustrated not only by history, but by the events which history gave rise to today.
Van
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Bill Glasheen
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Re: What to do about ISIS (a.k.a. ISIL, Islamic State)

Post by Bill Glasheen »

Bill Glasheen wrote: Their dream [ISIS] is to establish an Islamic caliphate from which they profess to wage jihad on the rest of the world. The goal is clear - convert to their interpretation of Islam or be killed. The long-run strategy is to attack "infidel" countries outside of their short-term dream of a regional Islamic caliphate.
Article posted by Van wrote: Islam has been attempting to overthrow the western world since the 7th century. Nothing has changed. They want the entire world under their thumb. Their world is the world which is submissive to Islam. Anything outside their world is the world of the Infidel...that is us. It is nothing new. One may even say it is "history".
And there you have it.

Thomas Jefferson wanted three accomplishments written on his tombstone: Author of the Declaration of Independence, Founder of the University of Virginia, and author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. All three are great accomplishments. The first was the seed for the creation of the U.S. The second created a University which - just yesterday - got voted the second best public university in the country (U.S. News and World Report annual survey). And the third was such a clever piece of legislation that it led to the concept of separation of church and state in the federal government. More importantly, Thomas Jefferson found a way for all these religious groups fleeing persecution (from the Church of England, Islam, etc.) to play nice with each other. Jefferson's dream is my own vision for how things can work. Here's an excerpt from his Virginia Statute.
Be it enacted by General Assembly that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of Religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge or affect their civil capacities.
- Bill
jorvik
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Re: What to do about ISIS (a.k.a. ISIL, Islamic State)

Post by jorvik »

The one sure way to stop Isil is for the US to stop funding them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_xdP6sipNs
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Re: What to do about ISIS (a.k.a. ISIL, Islamic State)

Post by Bill Glasheen »

jorvik wrote:The one sure way to stop Isil is for the US to stop funding them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_xdP6sipNs
I listened to this interview of James Corbett. It was so fraught with inaccuracies and anti-American sentiment that I had to do a little research to figure out its source. I've never heard of this guy.
Wikipedia wrote:The Corbett Report is a weekly podcast that presents amateur analysis of politics, society, history and economics.[1][2][3][4][5][6] It was founded in 2007 by Canadian expatriate James Corbett, a former English teacher who edits and hosts the podcast from Japan.[7] The website operates on the principles of "open source intelligence" and is funded by listener donations.[8] Interviews and articles about current affairs and suppressed history are also provided. The Corbett Report YouTube channel also hosts the podcast New World Next Week and is an affiliate of the Tragedy And Hope web site.
Further research reveals James interviewing "Anti Illumuinati". Wow... there's something I really can sink my teeth into. <sarcasm> Consider the source. He's not worth the energy it takes to dissect this YouTube piece. He draws attention to his inept podcasts via the art of the emotional hijack. Say stupid, inflammatory stuff and see what happens. Zzzz.....

ISIS has American weapons? Duh! Please read what I posted above.

ISIS has people in it that Americans trained? Please read what I posted above.

For what it's worth... The United States has *never* funded the ISIS faction fighting al Assad. If anything, several in Congress (John McCain et al) who were/are for various factions fighting to overthrow Assad were interested instead in funding the more moderate groups. This article from the New York Times explains the source of the false rumor.

..... John McCain Can’t Shake Falsehoods About Ties to ISIS

The U.S. in fact will be performing airstrikes in Syria which will allow some of these favored factions to fill in the void created when the ISIS pockets are attacked from above.

One of the biggest problems associated with fighting ISIS is that a coalition doing so will in fact strengthen the Assad/Putin alliance. This coalition will do al Assad's dirty work for him. And he knows it.

- Bill
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Re: What to do about ISIS (a.k.a. ISIL, Islamic State)

Post by jorvik »

But why the hell are you talking about funding groups and factions anyway? what has it got to do with the US?

America gets involved soley to support the US dollar and the American industrial complex, nothing is done for a moral reaon only for Crony capitalism /facism lite.
Remember all those lies about WMD ? and the death of bin laden?...you must be really gullible if you believe anything your government says.
The mess in the middle east is entirely down to the US, and now you are trying to start the same type of thing in ukraine and crimea. everybody in Europe knows it's about the gas pipelines.........isis is a way to try and put troops on the ground in Syria, which obma wanted to do originally but was thwarted by putin, now he is trying another way.

Check out the viewpoint of /dr Paul Craig Roberts

http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/09 ... g-roberts/

Quote
Paul Craig Roberts

The tragedy of September 11, 2001, goes far beyond the deaths of those who died in the towers and the deaths of firefighters and first responders who succumbed to illnesses caused by inhalation of toxic dust. For thirteen years a new generation of Americans has been born into the 9/11 myth that has been used to create the American warfare/police state.

The corrupt Bush and Obama regimes used 9/11 to kill, maim, dispossess and displace millions of Muslims in seven countries, none of whom had anything whatsoever to do with 9/11.

A generation of Americans has been born into distain and distrust of Muslims.

A generation of Americans has been born into a police state in which privacy and constitutional protections no longer exist.

A generation of Americans has been born into continuous warfare while needs of citizens go unmet.

A generation of Americans has been born into a society in which truth is replaced with the endless repetition of falsehoods.

According to the official story, on September 11, 2001, the vaunted National Security State of the World’s Only Superpower was defeated by a few young Saudi Arabians armed only with box cutters. The American National Security State proved to be totally helpless and was dealt the greatest humiliation ever inflicted on any country claiming to be a power.

That day no aspect of the National Security State worked. Everything failed.

The US Air Force for the first time in its history could not get intercepter jet fighters into the air.

The National Security Council failed.

All sixteen US intelligence agencies failed as did those of America’s NATO and Israeli allies.

Air Traffic Control failed.

Airport Security failed four times at the same moment on the same day. The probability of such a failure is zero.

If such a thing had actually happened, there would have been demands from the White House, from Congress, and from the media for an investigation. Officials would have been held accountable for their failures. Heads would have rolled.

Instead, the White House resisted for one year the 9/11 families’ demands for an investigation. Finally, a collection of politicians was assembled to listen to the government’s account and to write it down. The chairman, vice chairman, and legal counsel of the 9/11 Commission have said that information was withheld from the commission, lies were told to the commission, and that the commission “was set up to fail.” The worst security failure in history resulted in not a single firing. No one was held responsible.

Washington concluded that 9/11 was possible because America lacked a police state.
The PATRIOT Act, which was awaiting the event was quickly passed by the congressional idiots. The Act established executive branch independence of law and the Constitution. The Act and follow-up measures have institutionalized a police state in “the land of the free.”

Osama bin Laden, a CIA asset dying of renal failure, was blamed despite his explicit denial. For the next ten years Osama bin Laden was the bogyman that provided the excuse for Washington to kill countless numbers of Muslims. Then suddenly on May 2, 2011, Obama claimed that US Navy SEALs had killed bin Laden in Pakistan. Eyewitnesses on the scene contradicted the White House’s story. Osama bin Laden became the only human in history to survive renal failure for ten years. There was no dialysis machine in what was said to be bin Laden’s hideaway. The numerous obituaries of bin Laden’s death in December 2001 went down the memory hole. And the SEAL team died a few weeks later in a mysterious helicopter crash in Afghanistan. The thousands of sailors on the aircraft carrier from which bin Laden was said to have been dumped into the Indian Ocean wrote home that no such burial took place.

The fairy tale story of bin Laden’s murder by Seal Team Six served to end the challenge by disappointed Democrats to Obama’s nomination for a second term. It also freed the “war on terror” from the bin Laden constraint. Washington wanted to attack Libya, Syria, and Iran, countries in which bin Laden was known not to have organizations, and the succession of faked bin Laden videos, in which bin Laden grew progressively younger as the fake bin Laden claimed credit for each successive attack, had lost credibility among experts.

Watching the twin towers and WTC 7 come down, it was obvious to me that the buildings were not falling down as a result of structural damage. When it became clear that the White House had blocked an independent investigation of the only three steel skyscrapers in world history to collapse as a result of low temperature office fires, it was apparent that there was a coverup.

After 13 years people at home and abroad find the government’s story less believable.
The case made by independent experts is now so compelling that mainstream media has opened to it. Here is Richard Gage of Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth on C-SPAN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zbv2SvBEec#t=23

After years of persistence a group in New York has secured the necessary number of valid signatures to put on the ballot a vote to investigate the cause of the collapse of the three WTC buildings. The official account, if correct, means that existing fire and building codes are insufficient to protect the public and that all other steel high rise structures are subject to the same failure. The group has been clever to frame the issue in terms of public safety and not in terms of 9/11 truth.

New York authorities, of course, continue to oppose the initiative. The question now rests on a judge’s ruling. It is difficult to imagine a judge going against the government in such a major way, but the group will have made the point that the government has no confidence in the truth of its own story.

Over these 13 years, physicists, chemists, architects, engineers, and first responders have provided massive evidence that completely disproves the official account of the failure of the three skyscrapers. The response to experts has been for non-experts to call experts “conspiracy theorists.” In other words, the defenders of the government’s story have no scientific or factual basis on which to stand. So they substitute name-calling.

9/11 was used to fundamentally alter the nature of the US government and its relationship to the American people. Unaccountable executive power has replaced due process and the checks and balances established by the US Constitution. In the name of National Security, executive power knows no restraints. Essentially, Americans today have no rights if the government targets them.

Those Americans born after 9/11 were born into a different country from the rest of us. Having never experienced constitutional government, they will not know what they have lost.

The anthrax attacks of October 2001 have been forgotten, but Professor Graeme MacQueen in The 2001 Anthrax Deception (Clarity Press, 2014) shows that the anthrax attacks played an essential role in setting the stage for the government’s acquisition of unaccountable police state power. Two Democratic Senate committee chairmen, Thomas Daschle and Patrick Leahy, were disturbed by the Bush regime’s overreach for carte blanche power, and were in a position to block the coming police state legislation and the ability of the executive branch alone to take America to war.

Both senators received anthrax letters, as did major news organizations. The TV network news anchors, such as Dan Rather, who compared the collapse of WTC skyscrapers to buildings brought down by controlled demolition, had not yet been fired by Republicans on framed-up charges.

Initially, the anthrax letters, which caused the deaths of some USPS employees, were seen as the second stage of the 9/11 attack. Fear multiplied. The senators and media shut up. Then it was discovered that the anthrax was a unique kind produced only by a US government military facility.

The response to this monkey wrench thrown into the government’s propaganda, was the FBI’s frame-up of a dead man, Bruce Edwards Ivins, who had been employed in the military lab that produced the anthrax and was driven to suicide by the false charges. The dead man’s colleagues did not believe one word of the government’s false story, and nothing in the dead man’s past indicated any motive or instability that would have led him to such a deed.

Initially, the US government tried to frame up Steven Jay Hatfill, but despite the best efforts of the New York Times and Nicholas Kristof the attempt to frame Hatfill failed. Hatfill received $5 million from the US government for the false accusation that ruined his life. So the corrupt US government moved on to Ivins.

Ivins was dead and couldn’t defend himself, but his colleagues did.

The entire episode stinks to high heaven. Justice is something that exists outside the borders of the United States. Never expect to find justice within the United States.

Most Americans are unaware of the extent to which the federal government owns the experts who can contradict its fairy tales. For example, no competent physicist can possibly believe the official story of the destruction of the three WTC buildings. But physics departments in US universities are heavily dependent on federal money. Any physicist who speaks his mind jeopardizes not only his own career but also the career of all of his colleagues. Physicist Steven Jones, who first pointed to the use of thermite in the destruction of the two towers had to agree to having his university buy out his tenure or his university was faced with losing all federal financing.

The same constraints operate in the private sector. High rise architects and structural engineers who express doubts about the official explanation of the collapse of three skyscrapers are viewed by potential clients as Muslim apologists and conspiracy kooks. The clients, of course, have no expert knowledge with which to assess the issue, but they are indoctrinated with ceaseless, endless, repetition that 9/11 was Osama bin Laden’s attack on America. Their indoctrination makes them immune to facts.

The 9/11 lie has persisted for 13 years. Millions of Muslims have paid for this lie with their lives, the destruction of their families, and with their dislocation. Most Americans remain comfortable with the fact that their government has destroyed in whole or part seven countries based on a lie Washington told to cover up an inside job that launched the crazed neoconservatives’ drive for Washington’s World Empire.

See also: http://www.globalresearch.ca/no-airline ... im/5400891

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Re: What to do about ISIS (a.k.a. ISIL, Islamic State)

Post by Bill Glasheen »

Bill Glasheen wrote: I don't expect there to be a right answer. (I do however expect smartaleck answers from one usual suspect.)
It is as I predicted.
Bill Glasheen wrote:Let's try to be civil, and try to enlighten.
Indeed.

We know how you feel, Ray. I knew before you posted, and it isn't because I'm clairvoyant. So let's give others some bandwidth.

- Bill
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Re: What to do about ISIS (a.k.a. ISIL, Islamic State)

Post by Bill Glasheen »

Wall Street Journal wrote: Islamic State Video Claims Beheading of British Man
By MATT BRADLEY And NICHOLAS WINNING
Updated Sept. 13, 2014 9:58 p.m. ET

BAGHDAD—The Islamic State militant group released a video late Saturday that it said showed the beheading of David Haines, a British aid worker.

Image

Islamic State militants had previously released videos showing the beheadings of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

The video released Saturday showed what a masked person said was Mr. Haines's beheading before proposing that Alan Henning, another Briton, might face the same fate if British forces didn't stop their aggression against the militant group.

***
So wait... a British aid worker was beheaded so someone could make a point? *This* is the work of a religion-based group?
Wall Street Journal wrote: "This is a despicable and appalling murder of an innocent aid worker. It is an act of pure evil," Mr. Cameron said in a statement published shortly after midnight in London.
Somebody apparently gets it. Churchill would be proud.

Time to get back on topic.

- Bill
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Re: What to do about ISIS (a.k.a. ISIL, Islamic State)

Post by hoshin »

1) What caused all this?
depends on how you meant the question.
When the US was about to go into Iraq after 9/11 Rumsfeld wanted to show America's military superiority and use minimal amount of troops. the original plan was for 250,000 troops. collin powell's plan suggested far more troops as well as a recomendation of a long term strategy. guess who's plan was used? the US had no plan for any kind of occupation after Saddam Hussein was gone. we simply did not have the troops commited to achieve this. we made poor assumptions, having no idea about the region and the people who were suposed to take over. we continually trained and armed Iraqi soldiers only to have them mysteriously disapear into the the hills. this lack of power and stability caused a void that ISIS took good advantage of and gave them te foot hold they have today.

was this a complete blunder and failure yes but i dont think Bush or Obama can be blamed. these conflicts have been going on a long time and would have continued with or without our involvement. Our involvement this time around will probably have the same result.
3) If you were the leader, what would you do?
not sure what you mean, are you asking what should the United States role be or are you asking what we feel ISIS will do?
For what it's worth... The United States has *never* funded the ISIS faction fighting al Assad
Correct we didnt fund them because of Assad. however we did pay out millions during the Iraq invasion to small factions to keep them out of the fray and appease them while we tried to create stability in Iraq. guess who was on that payrole? yes a group that is now called ISIS. we may have inadvertently gave the group seed money.
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Re: What to do about ISIS (a.k.a. ISIL, Islamic State)

Post by Bill Glasheen »

I think it's clear that the invasion of Iraq wasn't a shining moment in U.S. foreign policy. On the other hand... Many of the WMDs which allegedly weren't there suddenly reappeared in Syria, and both Russia and the United States are working diligently to see they are destroyed. ISIS also recently discovered a hidden cache in northern Iraq. (Source - WSJ)

Saddam Hussein was creating mass graves for Shia in the south, exterminating Kurds with chemical weapons in the north, firing at U.S. and British planes protecting the no-fly zones, redirecting "aid" money for his own benefit, and writing WMD threat checks that he couldn't cash. One way or another, his days were numbered.

I think you're correct in that no matter what is done, it was and will be a mess. Remove a brutal dictator and evil reveals itself. Meet the new boss; same as the old boss.

It's also true that a lot of money changed hands during Operation Iraqi Freedom. But you're going to have to provide sources to convince me that the U.S. funded groups that became ISIS. I don't think so... The U.S. held Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi captive until probably around 2009. (Sources vary.) Al-Baghdadi became head of a group that grew like The Borg. And said group captured, stole, kidnapped, and extorted funds from wherever they could get it. There was a very good article in the WSJ last week explaining how they built their organization. It's worth a read.

By the way... I am asking if you, Hoshin, were the leader, what would you do? Think carefully.

Understand in advance that I don't think there's an easy solution. However I *do* believe that ambivalence is off the table. If we pretend they aren't there - as this country once did with groups festering in Afghanistan - then they eventually will find us. Read the article Van posted. It's what these fringe religious groups do. Our very existence is an affront to their vision of a perfect world.

- Bill
jorvik
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Re: What to do about ISIS (a.k.a. ISIL, Islamic State)

Post by jorvik »

Post deleted by editor.
Bill Glasheen wrote: let's give others some bandwidth.
Shinkawa
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Re: What to do about ISIS (a.k.a. ISIL, Islamic State)

Post by Shinkawa »

My opinion:
We (Europeans) often blame the US for a wrong foreign policy and often we are right (not always).
On the other hand, the US are acting and reacting, while Europe just looks. If things get worse, the Europeans "cry" for the US. We do not want the US as a world police, but in case of an emergency, we ask for the world police to help (to criticize later, what went wrong).
The biggest mistake in foreign policy of the US is that the US have lost their knowledge about plans what to do, when they have won a war. After the WWII they had a plan and it worked. Today, it seems, they are acting like a cowboy, who says "Shoot first and then... Ah, i do not know, let's shoot first".

So, i criticize Europe and the US.

Concerning ISIS, they should try to work together with as much countries as possible, for example european states, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel, Iran, Russia and Syria (Assad).
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Re: What to do about ISIS (a.k.a. ISIL, Islamic State)

Post by Bill Glasheen »

Shinkawa:

Your perspective is heartfelt and appreciated.

- Bill
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