Clark: ISIS is forcing 'moment of truth'

[Legalequilibrium78]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Sissyk (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: CNN

(CNN) - America was rightly shocked by the brutal, videotaped murder of American journalist James Foley.

But we should not have been surprised. The Islamic State, as the jihadist group calls itself, has murdered, raped and savaged its way across borders in the Mideast and into the headlines as the latest terrorist foe from the region.

Foley's murder not only gives terrorist stature to ISIS but also, if it draws U.S. ground troops into the fight, will have given ISIS a recruiting bonanza. So the U.S. response requires, not just a set of airstrikes in revenge, but serious strategic calculation.

The U.S. has learned the hard way that Western armies inflame extremists and serve as recruiting magnets for terrorists. Instead, other nations, and particularly Saudi Arabia and other Sunni states, must put their soldiers forward, and bear the brunt of the fighting.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/26/opinion/clark-u-s-syria-isis/

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[DetlefK]

1. A made a suggestion a while ago:

And the only counter-argument was "You do realize that the US has no permission to launch air-raids in Iraq?"

Simple:
ISIS is an occupying army. => ISIS depends on pillaging local ressources.

The main tactic of ISIS is a fast "cavalry-attack" with jeeps. That army needs gas. So, the counter-strategy is fairly straightforward: Prevent the flow of gas into the regions controlled by ISIS.

[Billy Budd]

2. who do they think they are

The Islamic State, as the jihadist group calls itself, has murdered, raped and savaged its way across borders in the Mideast and into the headli

who do they think they are the US ? only the US can legally murder rape and savage across borders...anyone else who does it is bad .....

[get the red out]

5. So they are good

And should be allowed to do that? OK, let's stay out of it and let them just kill as many as they want. That will certainly redeem the US. Who cares about further loss of innocent life anyway?

[whathehell]

7. Hyperbolic much?

The US is the equivalent of ISIS? --- Give me a fucking break.

[nikto]

3. So let me get this straight...

We and the Saudis originally funded some of the groups a year or 2 ago that later morphed
into ISIS in order to fight Assad in Syria.

Now, we want Syria to allow us to bomb a renegade ISIS inside Syria's borders?

[Promethean]

4. History repeats itself yet again

The Mujahadeen from Afghanistan that we armed and trained to fight the Soviets. What big famous terrorist group was it that came from that again...Ah thats right Al Qaida! I doubt our leaders will learn the lesson this time either.

[get the red out]

6. Yes

We should have stayed out of all that from the beginning and the world would be a better place. Now it's too late just to let them do what they want to people.

[EEO]

8. I am very tired of the Saudis sitting back and watching everyone else fight it out.

They should stop concentrating so much on repressing their own people and begin looking outward to take control of their own foreign policy business with their own soldiers and weapons.

[Flatulo]

9. The irony is that the Saudis, with all top-line US military equipment, should be a formidable

fighting force. But I suspect the truth is that they're spoiled, fat, scared and lazy. They've been paying others (us) to do their fighting for the last 25 years. They've never been bloodied in combat. I don't expect the Saudis to be particularly useful in confronting ISIS.

Obviously, if we hadn't invaded Iraq in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess. But given that we did, the second biggest blunder was disbanding the Iraqi army. Even though they were no match for the US military, they were a seasoned and trained force.

What a fucking mess.

Look upon your works, GWB.

[Sissyk]

10. Locking.

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