Iraq and ISIS Discussion

[Ranger Psych]

In the hands of militants... gunshot wound under the chin... sounds more to me like surrendered/got captured and then got murdered than it does that he killed himself. Seems more like Pesh myth-making to me.

Some people dont have solid plans for final solutions if everything literally goes wrong in the face of an uncontrolled but horrific death. Chin shot is one of them, but still a somewhat quick way out if you do it right. I would have had a demolitions option, personally. Take some with me in an instant.

 

[Marauder06]

Unexpectedly received a Francis Fukuyama book in the mail today.

I don't like Francis Fukuyama. (page 89 or so of this thread if you don't get the reference)

There is only one person who would have sent me a Francis Fukuyama book I have't already read.

;) Thank you @IlDuce, this was really cool and I look forward to reading it.

 

[Il Duce]

Unexpectedly received a Francis Fukuyama book in the mail today.

I don't like Francis Fukuyama. (page 89 or so of this thread if you don't get the reference)

There is only one person who would have sent me a Francis Fukuyama book I have't already read.

;) Thank you @IlDuce, this was really cool and I look forward to reading it.

The message was supposed to be 'I know where you live' - you can read it if you want I guess...

 

[RackMaster]

The message was supposed to be 'I know where you live' - you can read it if you want I guess...

Aka. Close your blinds...

 

[Gunz]

Aka. Close your blinds...

And pull up your pants...

 

[Marauder06]

The message was supposed to be 'I know where you live' - you can read it if you want I guess...

hahahahaha. Noted.

And pull up your pants...

Wait, what? How did you know? :-/

 

[SpongeBob*24]

Unexpectedly received a Francis Fukuyama book in the mail today.

I don't like Francis Fukuyama. (page 89 or so of this thread if you don't get the reference)

There is only one person who would have sent me a Francis Fukuyama book I have't already read.

;) Thank you @IlDuce, this was really cool and I look forward to reading it.

Is it a pop-up book....?:-"

 

[Marauder06]

Is it a pop-up book....?:-"

More like a "prop up" book; like I'm going to "prop" it up in my office where people can see it and think I'm smart like Il Duce, and just not ever read it.

That's what I did with most of the books SF Med and Pardus sent me.

 

[Salt USMC]

I dunno. Fukuyama was definitely en vogue in the early 2000's, but he along with Samuel Huntington have fallen out of favor. Don't get me wrong - it was a smart-sounding thesis for the 90's. Democracy was the apex of humanity and global capitalism would solve everything. We solved history, hooray!

As you can see, that's clearly not the case today.

 

[Marauder06]

Huntington falling out of favor is news to me. I can't think of much (anything?) of his that has been fundamentally disproven, unlike Fukuyama.

 

[CQB]

Huntingtons analysis of the population bubble in Muslim countries, the better education of the same young population & their lack of opportunity certainly hit the mark with me. The two factors above also coincided with the rise of the Internet. I think we all know where that went.
Initially I was a Fukuyama sceptic, but he's pretty good on most topics & shouldn't be discounted.

 

[Vansickle]

Here's the link.

US deploys armored forces in northern Syrian town - The Boston Globe

Looks like some Motorized Infantry Battalion probably. The article is not specific.

Maybe some M1126 Strykers there, can't tell with the picture in the article.

Thoughts?

 

[Ooh-Rah]

Thoughts?

What are yours?

 

[Vansickle]

What are yours?

I'm intrigued as I haven't heard that much about operators in Syria.

 

[AWP]

I'm intrigued as I haven't heard that much about operators in Syria.

There's a reason for that.

With that said, did a new unit just show up or were vehicles sent for the existing guys on the ground? My guess is the latter so this is much ado about nothing. Even if it were the former this is long overdue.

ETA: merged threads

 

[ThunderHorse]

It's long overdue we left. Mission creep. Also, apparently those photos came with grid coordinates from the source I saw. OPSEC as hell.

 

[AWP]

They are for SOF and they were deployed to send several messages, so the deployment was never meant to be a secret or a major escalation of US policy. Much ado about nothing.

US Stryker Deployment To Manbij, Syria Appears To Have Been A Blocking Move

 

[ThunderHorse]

I would say it is an escalation of policy that we have to run around in Strykers and diplomatic cables no longer work.

 

[RackMaster]

I would say it is an escalation of policy that we have to run around in Strykers and diplomatic cables no longer work.

With the IED threat both ground and aerial (daesh is using cheap drones with explosives); I wouldn't want to roam around in anything not up armoured with heavy weapons.

 

[Salt USMC]

At least one source is saying that it's Rangers.