Once again you seem to miss the point which is odd because you seem to get it when I point it out to Mathloom that one of the problems with the Middle East is that people there don't take responsibility for their countries but instead wallow in victimhood. Then again understanding and comprehension isn't really what you're after.
I want to stress again I don't claim military expertise and admit that I am a layman. From my own understanding though is that while you are correct that ISIS are very capable and motivated fighters I don't think shutting off enough supply lines to a city like Baghdad is as simple of a matter as you make it. Also while yes Baghdad is much larger than Berlin you have to consider how long could ISIS maintain a siege especially when the can't encircle. If ISIS is able to cut off supply lines I very much doubt they can do it for long. They will be exposed to airstrikes and the Iraqi military in the south isn't going to sit by and let them lay siege to the capital. My view is that the far bigger danger of ISIS isn't that they lay siege to Baghdad by cutting off supply lines but they and their sympathizers undertake a terror campaign within Baghdad to try to bring the civil war right into the heart of the capital. That is going to be something that airstrikes or major military engagements can't stop. I agree we shouldn't underestimate them and I don't think the US, the Kurds or the Iraqi military are now that they realize how capable they are. Totally agree with this. They want nothing more than for the US to come so they can make this a battle between the righteous Mujahid versus the infidels of the West.
This is exactly what's going to happen. ISIS is not going to encircle Baghdad and cut it off. ISIS is not going to take Baghdad. They are going to launch a terror campaign - actually, it's already been underway for a few weeks now. It's a distraction. Problem is, we don't have much choice but to abide. We can only try to compensate for it in other ways and fight that narrative.
Did he tie the jumper cables to his nipples? I've heard they are into that sort of thing................
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>ISIL must be destroyed/will be crushed.</p>— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnKerry/statuses/502174375857381377">August 20, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Yes. In case you were wondering, we are at war. Obama, ‘Appalled’ by Beheading, Will Continue Airstrikes President Obama declared on Wednesday that the entire world was “appalled” by the videotaped beheading of an American journalist by Islamic militants, speaking as American warplanes conducted 14 airstrikes in Iraq and the State Department asked the Pentagon to send as many as 300 more American troops to Iraq for security. Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/21/us/politics/james-foley-beheading-isis-video-authentic-obama.html
Pretty good article here: If we have to work with Iran to defeat the Islamic State, so be it http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/11040245/If-we-have-to-work-with-Iran-to-defeat-the-Islamic-State-so-be-it.html Key quote: "On this occasion, my enemy’s enemy is not my friend. But to borrow Margaret Thatcher’s comment on Mikhail Gorbachev, we can, on the issue of jihadi terrorism, do business with them."
Oh, I don't claim it either. I've just been following this a lot - hence my complaining back during the Gaza fighting of "Why are we paying so much attention to this when the IS fighting is much more important?"
At no point in that comment did he call for the extermination of a group of people based on their religious faith. Not even remotely close to faust's nonsense.
So, ISIS press officer Abu Mosa, who starred in the excellent VICE documentary on the group, stated the following a few weeks ago: “Don’t be cowards and attack us with drones,” he said. “Instead, send us your soldiers, the ones we humiliated in Iraq. We will humiliate them everywhere, God willing, and we will raise the flag of Allah in the White House.” Well, he is in the news again: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>An <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISIS?src=hash">#ISIS</a> leader and press officer both killed in Tabqa Airbase attack in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Syria?src=hash">#Syria</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/thinkagainturnaway?src=hash">#thinkagainturnaway</a> <a href="http://t.co/hEyv6CJ2Fn">pic.twitter.com/hEyv6CJ2Fn</a></p>— Think AgainTurn Away (@ThinkAgain_DOS) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThinkAgain_DOS/statuses/502449737011068928">August 21, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Rot in hell ya piece of garbage. YOU certainly won't be planting any flags at the White House...
Er... Why would Obama get credit for it? He was killed fighting Assad's forces in a battle to take Tabqa Airbase, one of the last Assad holdouts in that part of Syria? So, uh, NO, since Obama had absolutely nothing to do with it in any way, shape, or form he does not get credit for it.
Halting ISIS Would Require Attacks in Syria, Top General Says The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria cannot be defeated unless the United States or its allies take on the Sunni militancy in Syria, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday afternoon. “This is an organization that has an apocalyptic end-of-days strategic vision that will eventually have to be defeated,” the chairman, Gen. Martin Dempsey, said in his most expansive public remarks on the crisis since American airstrikes began in Iraq. “Can they be defeated without addressing that part of the organization that resides in Syria? The answer is no.” But both General Dempsey and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who appeared beside him during a Pentagon news conference, deflected questions about whether the United States military would pursue the Sunni militants from Iraq into Syria, an issue that many defense experts say lies at the heart any attempt to defeat ISIS. Pressed about whether the United States would attempt airstrikes on ISIS targets in Syria, Mr. Hagel said, “We’re looking at all options.” And General Dempsey said that American allies in the region must play a role as well. Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/22/world/middleeast/isis-believed-to-have-as-many-as-17000-fighters.html?_r=0 Translation: the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff just indicated that we're going to go after ISIS in Syria. If you want to actually defeat them, there's no avoiding it. Also of note in the story, they estimate ISIS's strength to be about 17,000 men now. That is quite a bit more than even a month ago - nearly double. The earlier this gets nipped in the bud, the easier it will be.
I've gotten increasingly frustrated with his posting style over the years. Somebody told me to imagine "a chicken with a pencil taped to its head pecking at a keyboard" for it to make sense and, amazingly, it's a lot better now!
Baghdad Open to Letting U.S. Warplanes Fly From Iraqi Bases Iraqi officials have given their American counterparts clear signals that Baghdad is willing to let U.S. fighter jets operate out of Iraqi air bases, a move that would allow planes to stay airborne longer and deliver more strikes. But the Obama administration, at least for now, doesn't seem all that interested. The back-channel discussions over the bases, which have not previously been reported, highlight the White House's uncertainty about escalating its low-level air war against the Islamic State. President Barack Obama proudly pulled all U.S. troops out of Iraq in late 2011. He has repeatedly stressed that the military campaign there that began Aug. 8 will be limited in both scope and duration. With broad swaths of Syria and Iraq under Islamic State control, key U.S. allies are pressing the administration to step up the fight. Taking off from Iraqi bases would make it much easier to do so because it would put the American aircraft closer to their targets. "Everything is harder when you're doing it from the outside," a senior military official said. Full Story: http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/08/20/exclusive_baghdad_open_to_letting_us_warplanes_fly_from_iraqi_bases Translation: the Iraqis are begging us to come back and bail them out. I am OK with bringing back enough to run an air war, protect a base or two running that air war, and bringing in more SOF, with the understanding that the Iraqis/peshmerga do the heavy lifting on the ground. I think it's what's ultimately necessary to do what needs to be done, and if we don't do it now then it might require a large ground combat component later on to deal with the problem.
To a certain extent I agree with Obama holding out, I'd make Iraq agree to our terms for assistance since they were so disagreeable a few years ago when we wanted to keep people around to help them. Don't play TOO hard to get though or they'll seek assistance elsewhere and we'll have a worse problem.
