Send Boots on the ground to deal with ISIS?


  • It is a matter of time before boots do land on the ground outside of the few thousand we have there currently. Whether you agree with it or not, if you ask the military to solve a problem, they are going to give you a military solution every time.

    I honestly believe if we would have kept about 10,000 soldiers there after 2011, we wouldn’t be in this mess. It also would have been a heck of a lot cheaper than going back in blind.

  • '16 '15 '10

    @Gargantua:

    To be frank - it’s a good strategy if that’s our intent.  I am in full agreement that it’s possibly deliberate.

    #1 - there are lots of different extremists, and it’s better to have your enemies fighting your enemies
    #2 - It’s better that they are fighting over there, than bringing it all to your local downtown core.
    #3 - The existence of extremists, and their ever present threat, validates gobs of military spending, which to some degree maintains a system of relative and balanceable world social stability.

    In addition, perhaps the Allies hope to break up Iraq into 3 or more states.  It makes each state more dependent on Western military to protect it from the others.  Each state would be more reluctant to nationalize resources or otherwise defy the empire.  And a pan-nationalist Arab movement is less likely to emerge if the region is divided between shia and sunni.

  • '18 '17 '16 '15 Customizer

    @Zhukov44:

    In addition, perhaps the Allies hope to break up Iraq into 3 or more states.  It makes each state more dependent on Western military to protect it from the others.  Each state would be more reluctant to nationalize resources or otherwise defy the empire.  And a pan-nationalist Arab movement is less likely to emerge if the region is divided between shia and sunni.

    I think this idea has already happened in the past and is perhaps the reason we have the current problems. If nothing else this seems like taking our (western) meddling to a whole different level. Or at the very least being frank about strategies we have been employing for decades.

  • '17

    @Gargantua:

    #1 - there are lots of different extremists, and it’s better to have your enemies fighting your enemies

    Kerry dismissed the idea of Iran joining the coalition as “inappropriate” even though they are volunteering their help.

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29172524

    More interesting perhaps: Iran is joining the fight anyways. They have military units inside Iraq already.

    http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/26/world/meast/iran-president-amanpour-interview/

  • '21 '20 '18 '17 '16 '15 '14 '13

    I’m afraid the ground invasion is inevitable.

    NASA says a limited nuclear war will lower global temperatues.  Let’s solve two problems at once and Nuke it all

    Here is a better deal:
    Build in both poles a tower hundred miles in height. At each tower top mount 100 jet engines, 1000 is better. These engines are blowing in the north and south poles in opposite directions. The earth’s axis will change the angle so that Asia will be on the dark side of the Earth. Tsunamis will flush Russia away due to the melting of Antarctica. China would be in the permafrost zone.
    A pleasant mild climate will be established in entire American continent.
    In Africa, the climate will be like in Siberia now. Africans will learn to shoot down the pine nuts with wooden mallets. A bit sorry about Australia. They didn’t do anything wrong, but not much good either. So, let it be. Not sure about Europe. We’ll see.

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    Perhaps the Turks declare war today, and we see a welcomed resurgence of the OTTOMAN EMPIRE!

  • '21 '20 '18 '17 '16 '15 '14 '13

    Or collapse?

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    LOL Possible.

    But I don’t think so.  I think the Turks would kick ass - and surprise the world.  A lighting fast strike…


  • Iraq needs to get broken into three separate states based on ethnic groups. Or bring in a dictatorship, the current Iraq cannot survive.


  • This article which was published by the CBC today…

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/how-isis-and-syria-drove-a-stake-through-the-arab-spring-1.2785736

    …argues that the whole ISIS mess could have been avoided if Arab states had responded positively over the years to the calls made by peaceful moderates for political and economic reform.  Instead of doing so, the leaders of these states fixated on maintaining the status quo and used harsh measures to quell what they regarded as dissent.  The result?  Resentment, instabilty, increasing support for extremist groups, and eventually revolution and chaos.


  • @Gargantua:

    Perhaps the Turks declare war today, and we see a welcomed resurgence of the OTTOMAN EMPIRE!

    lol OTTOMANNS EMPIRE…everywhere I look, I see OTTOMANNS EMPIRE.
    They now call 'em Kebap House.
    It is a foodchain, nothing to worry about! :-D


  • A three state solution will only create more problems in the region. They won’t really be states anyways, they will be proxies for their more powerful neighbors.(aside from the Kurds). A sunni state will be backed by the Saudi’s and their kinsman around the arabian peninsula. The shia portion would be backed by the Iranian’s and likely Assad if he wins the civil war there. The Kurds, will be marginalized by all sides because they are a large demographic in all these surrounding countries and an independence movement on their part would cause problems in Iran, Turkey, and Syria because they have large minorities of this ethnic group. It would also cause problems for an Iraqi Kurdistan that wouldn’t be able to support a large influx of their ethnic brethren that would undoubtedly move to a legitimized homeland.

    It is a recipe for disaster even greater than what we are seeing today.


  • Yes, three state solution is a terrible idea.  Was a terrible idea in 2008 when Joe Biden suggested it, terrible idea now.

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    Seems the turks have let me down…

    I was expecting a full scale offensive/invasion, to crush this spell of violence… instead we got F-All, and now an infamous Turkish “site of importance” has fallen.

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/isis-knocks-on-turkeys-door/ar-BB83BOI

    Turks don’t want to go in for a few different reasons.  How disappointing… :(

    Predicitions are flying that 5,000 civilians will be executed within 24 - 48 hours of total ISIS take over of Kobani.

  • '22 '20 '19 '18 '17 '16

    Hate to say it but maybe higher-ups don’t in Ankara mind ISIS thinning the Kurdish population since they’ve had so many problems with them over the years.


  • It is a matter of time before western soldiers start doing offensive operations… I imagine the US is going to wait until after the poll results comein next month…

    There is movement…that’s all I can say…

  • '18 '17 '16 '15 Customizer

    @Redleg13A:

    There is movement…that’s all I can say…

    Are you on the inside to some extent? Military or otherwise?


  • I am in the US Army and have been for 13 years…I have many friends at many military posts…and lots of orders are showing up saying “somewhere in CENTCOM”.

    I recieved similar orders stating the same such words in January of 2003…

    A word of advice too, the more the politicians deny something, the more likely it is going to happen. Look for the narrative to start to change about boots on the ground (it already has to an extent)…once everyone is nice and comfy in their new, or old, political offices about 15 Nov, you will see a much more aggressive call to action. You’ll see.

  • '18 '17 '16 '15 Customizer

    @Redleg13A:

    I am in the US Army and have been for 13 years…I have many friends at many military posts…and lots of orders are showing up saying “somewhere in CENTCOM”.

    I recieved similar orders stating the same such words in January of 2003…

    A word of advice too, the more the politicians deny something, the more likely it is going to happen. Look for the narrative to start to change about boots on the ground (it already has to an extent)…once everyone is nice and comfy in their new, or old, political offices about 15 Nov, you will see a much more aggressive call to action. You’ll see.

    I really despise politicking, plausible deniability and optical maneuvering… really despise it. I keep banging my head against a metaphorical wall wishing it would stop, but I think it is an unfortunate eternal reality. And it isn’t just politicians but executives and lawyers and anyone in a position of power with something to lose/gain because of it. It is a cycle of deception and/or head-in-sand mentality that is trickling down to the general public. It is rapidly becoming a very dangerous thing.

    I can imagine that it is even worse for someone in the military (the frustration). Or have you just learned to accept it?

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