General Mark Hertling, who spent years in Northern Iraq during the "surge" gives an insightful appraisal of what must happen in order for ISIS to be defeated. The key lies with the tribal structure of the region and their relation with the Iraqi government. Well worth reading.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/21/opinion/hertling-only-way-to-defeat-isis/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Good story. I just wonder though based on early results, can any of the tribes outside of Kurdistan really be fully trusted. The leaders are obviously all about which way the wind blows and which breeze benefits them most.
ReplyDeleteThe Kurds on the other hand seem willing to defend Kurdistan if not the whole country. I think to bring them into the nationalistic mindset would be as necessary as it is probably impossible. I feel that the Kurds are all about a greater Kurdistan and have no loyalty to the government of Iraq so could care less about the rest of the country except for the fact that they may not want this ISIL cancer as their immediate neighbor. That may motivate them for a greater role in the whole country. I just seriously doubt the willingness, the skill, and the integrity of the rest of the army of Iraq.
Rick, another problem is that the ISIS jihadists will melt into the general population of whatever territory they capture. So, we can't bomb them indiscriminately without drawing criticism that we are engendering genocide. Like Israel and Hamas. The jihadists know this, of course, and will use it to their advantage. Also, several, if not all, of the cities they have occupied welcomed them. What a mess!
ReplyDeleteI hate to see the carnage but,,,rather than an Iraqi third war,,,I say let them all kill each other. If the people don't want their damn dam blown up then let them arm themselves and protect the damn dam.
ReplyDeleteI am sick and tired of these in horn war lords, whatever their murky religions. Drill baby drill. Build the dam pipeline to Canada,,,build two dam pipelines to Canada. Pump the shit out of oil and make their precious resourse next to worthless.
If China wants their dam oil let China kill the dam warlords. Put the CIA on notice to report anything that moves in our direction and shoot it full of holes before it gets off the ground.
Give Israel anything that they need and support them in reducing the Iranian nuclear program, single refinery, and electric grid to rubble.
Enough is f__king enough. These assholes only understand one thing,,,send them to their virgins early.
Obviously your shallow mind has no concept of a very deep problem.
DeleteP.S. come back when you are ready to have an adult conversation.
DeleteAnd what is your complex solution Rick?
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DeleteRight now we are on the correct course. Of course since you are so uninformed you don't realize that we have a strong secular sunni muslim population who are strong and long time allies in the region in the Kurds and their peshmerga. ( by the way peshmerga means one who faces death). They are willing to fight this fight and with our help they can win. They are under armed since the Iraqi's gave the ISIL all our cool stuff. There are about 190,000 members of the peshmerga throughout Kurdistan. But here's the problem. The Kurds will fight to the death for Kurdistan. It is yet to be seen if they will do so for the greater Iraq. But William if they fight this battle for the world and they are willing to do that we need to reward them with the one thing they want. An official country of their own. Yep right there in northern Iraq oil and all. Iraq has show to be an iffy ally at best so I agree with you there fuck 'em. But let's support those people who are willing to fight this most recent scourge of the world. William did you know that not one American soldier lost his life in combat in the Kurdish zone of Iraq during that unnecessary war. No dude they welcomed us, they helped us, they supported us.
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