Iraq and ISIS Discussion

[poison]

Apparently Russia is transferring troops to Syria, and coordinating with Iran. If you attach enough tin foil, you'll pick up signals from debka saying they've moved a nuke sub off the coast.

How do you guys feel about increased involvement in Syria, with a potential positive (for them) outcome? Sure, anything that embroils Russia and Iran in protracted bloody fights is great, and keeps them distracted, but is that how this will play out? Somehow I doubt it.

 

[Florida173]

Russians have had military interest in Syria for a long time with Tartus, so this isn't really all that interesting for me.

 

[Gunz]

Yeah, and that interest goes back to before the Yom Kippur War in 73. Russian troops to Syria is just one more ingredient to the clusterfuck. Unless there's a large-scale coordinated ground offensive to root these ISIS bastards out and kill them all, in my view it's all a big dog & pony show. And I don't suspect Putin is any more willing than Obama to commit large numbers of troops in a potentially bloody and lengthy ground war.

 

[Brill]

How do you guys feel about increased involvement in Syria, with a potential positive (for them) outcome? Sure, anything that embroils Russia and Iran in protracted bloody fights is great, and keeps them distracted, but is that how this will play out? Somehow I doubt it.

So much for regime change in Syria. I expect that Syrian airspace will suddenly become a less favorable operating area.

 

[AWP]

And I don't suspect Putin is any more willing than Obama to commit large numbers of troops in a potentially bloody and lengthy ground war.

I think he'll commit troops to combat just to see what the world does. He's going to keep pushing and see how far he can take his foreign policy.

 

[Florida173]

Syria is much more of a strategic importance for Russia than us

 

[DA SWO]

I think he'll commit troops to combat just to see what the world does. He's going to keep pushing and see how far he can take his foreign policy.

I hope he does, in large numbers with a slash and burn mentality. That would give ISIL a challenge they are not prepared for.

Syria is much more of a strategic importance for Russia than us

Yep, especially with our feeble attempts at regime change.

 

[poison]

Russia's Syrian Air Base Has U.S. Scrambling for a Plan - Bloomberg View

Great fucking job. Yet another lose:lose proposition from our president.

 

[Gunz]

I think he'll commit troops to combat just to see what the world does. He's going to keep pushing and see how far he can take his foreign policy.

You're probably right, not much comparison--on second thought--in the balls department between Putin and POTUS. And like @DA SWO, I hope he does, too. Somebody has to put an end to the madness.

 

[Brill]

Is this what winning looks like?

Animation: How ISIS Territory Has Changed Since the U.S. Bombing Campaign

 

[Brill]

VICE again with anti-MSM viewpoints.

What if the Islamic State Won? | VICE News

...what would a more plausible kind of "agree to disagree" or at least "agree to be mortal enemies" victory look like for IS? Perhaps something much more pragmatic, like being able to effectively govern the territories they already control and successfully protect the borders of their so-called caliphate.

From a certain perspective IS is already doing just that. They already carry out the essential day-to-day asks of any state: paying municipal salaries, issuing travel documents, and running schools and hospitals. However, once this kind of administration becomes the status quo, defeating IS becomes less about targeting leaders or shattering terror networks than about destroying an entire system of political and military governance: no small task.

"They [IS] are building redundancies into the system," Will McCants, author of ISIS Apocalypse and director of the US Project on US Relations with the Islamic World at the Brookings Institution, told VICE News. "They are giving field commanders and governors much more freedom and leeway, so even if you lose the caliph [Abu Bakr al Baghdadi] you don't necessarily lose the caliphate."

 

[CQB]

At least the Soviets have a plan. Some more necessary evils are going to be considered as well.

Russia's Syrian Air Base Has U.S. Scrambling for a Plan - Bloomberg View

Great fucking job. Yet another lose:lose proposition from our president.

 

[Rapid]

RUS air force.

 

[poison]

At least the Soviets have a plan. Some more necessary evils are going to be considered as well.

Their plan isn't good for the US, so yeah, kudos on running rings around this administration, but that's not a good thing.

Charles Krauthammer: How Putin outflanks Obama

 

[CQB]

I'd have to agree with Krauthammer. The necessary evil is Assad. What or who will replace him if he is deposed? The US should support the Kurds better, as they know what failure would mean for them. The Russia/Iran nexus at least looks like something going forward.

 

[Florida173]

Why do we need to support the Kurds better? I only ask because you are naming them like they are actually a people with a single vision.

I'm sure I am not the only one that remembers Barzani and Talabani's groups support from the Iranians during the Iran-Iraq war. The KDP and PUK were not our friends then.

Granted there are some of them now that are doing some great things in looking out for their own best interests against ISIL, but you aren't going to see them do anything more than keep the status quo and take take take materiel support from us.

 

[Gunz]

At least the Soviets have a plan. Some more necessary evils are going to be considered as well.

 

[CQB]

Why do we need to support the Kurds better? I only ask because you are naming them like they are actually a people with a single vision.

I'm sure I am not the only one that remembers Barzani and Talabani's groups support from the Iranians during the Iran-Iraq war. The KDP and PUK were not our friends then.

Granted there are some of them now that are doing some great things in looking out for their own best interests against ISIL, but you aren't going to see them do anything more than keep the status quo and take take take materiel support from us.

The govt over here gives them materiel as well & there's a net benefit in doing so. They're almost a proto state the same as Da'esh, with their own agenda. Circumstances change, risk equations change along with those changes & the Kurds should be supported.

 

[Florida173]

The govt over here gives them materiel as well & there's a net benefit in doing so. They're almost a proto state the same as Da'esh, with their own agenda. Circumstances change, risk equations change along with those changes & the Kurds should be supported.

That's a good point to make. An Iranian backed government is still supporting the Kurds.

 

[CQB]

As discussed, a necessary evil. Down range there'll be a couple more I'm sure. Bye bye Riyadh, hello Tehran.