Islamic State vs. The World (except Canada)

[Cory]

Good.

[Cory]

It's people like Chairman Sanchez and Deus Naturae here that are turning me into a foreign policy hawk. In a vacuum, a foreign policy of nonintervention seems sound, but just like many ideas that are "good in theory" they just aren't workable or reasonable in the nuance of real life.

While sectarian tensions in Iraq aren't new, we're the ones who toppled their government overnight, destroyed the existing social power structures, and forced them into a decade of foreign military occupation as a rumbling insurgency wrought havoc throughout the nation taking countless lives. We're the ones who effectively pulled out overnight and washed our hands of the matter while that insurgency transformed into a brutal sectarian revolution. ISIS is killing thousands of innocents whose only crime is practicing the "wrong" religion (or even practicing "right" one in an inadequate manner). This is our mess and we should be responsible for cleaning it up because we left the nation of Iraq in shambles. If we have the capacity to act and prevent death and oppression there's only one moral solution.

ISIS is rapidly advancing on the Kurdish capital of Erbil, the current home of the United States diplomatic mission to Iraq and the heart of our only real ally east of Jerusalem. If Iraqi Kurdistan falls then Baghdad falls because ISIS would no longer need to hold two fronts in Iraq. If Baghdad falls without America lifting a finger, then the rump Shia Iraq that's left will beg Iran for assistance and intervention. At that point ISIS's self-styled "Caliphate" would probably step up the killing of Shia civilians to the point of outright genocide.

This has the potential to go very wrong very quickly in so many ways. Fretting about ideological righteousness and partisan squabbling is outrageously ridiculous when there's tens of thousands of a minority religious group holding off on a mountainside. There faced with options of rescue or genocide- but that choice isn't for them to make. That choice gets made by people in Washington DC who are so out of touch that they weigh the chance to prevent a slaughter of thousands of innocent lives against a "public relations backlash" that would result. They're forced into such a situation by people like you, with righteous indignation about how that genocide "isn't our problem to stop!" People like you are why the Rwandan Genocide was allowed to happen. The boneheaded isolationist ideology you represent is the single greatest flaw of American democracy because it equates self-dependence with utterly immoral selfishness.

The combat airstrikes were visible from the Kurdish side of the front line- the front line that's been steadily pushing towards the Kurds for the past week. It's an active combat zone and was literally the no-man's land just a few days ago. Any civilians would have evacuated from the area well before the bombs fell, although I'm deeply sorry that your masturbatory delusions of exploding hospitals did not come true.





(drunk effortpost, sorry if not legible, things just struck a chord with me. not proofreading so my bad for typos)

This... just... this.

[Cory]

The UK should join in on the bombing after they execute David Haines.

As should France. An international effort will be required to defeat the Islamic State. I'm glad to hear reports that Iranian air units have begun giving some close air support to Iraqi forces.

[Cory]

More teenie girls intercepted by parents/police before they went to Syria/Iraq:

http://www.thelocal.at/20140909/two-austrian-schoolgirls-stopped-en-route-to-syria

It is now estimated by the Interior Ministry that a total of 12 teenie girls have already gone to Syria or attempted, the most notable ones are these 2 in April (no word heard from them since).

Another prominent one is a Vienna-girl of Polish-Catholic origin, who converted to Islam and went to Syria auf nimmerwiedersehen ...

It is estimated that out of the 130-150 Austrians who went to Syria/Iraq, 20-30 were women.

According to the "Economist", only Sweden has a higher number of female jihadis ...

It's a shame because you know these are jaded individuals who are desperately looking for a greater cause to be a part of to give their lives meaning. the same applies to most fringe/radical groups.

[Cory]

Turkey refuses to host U.S. anti-ISIS forces

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Also, a recent survey conducted by Metropoll found that only 62.5% of AKP supporters consider Isis a terrorist organization.

Damn them. Everyone knows good and well this isn't really about about the hostages. I mean c'mon what do they take us for? And they won't even let us use our base in Airbase in Incirlik to conduct operations. Ingrates.

[Cory]

Do people realize that frankly and realistically it doesn't matter if Assad targeted the moderates to leave the Islamists as his only real enemies? It's like saying we shouldn't work with the Soviets in 1942 because they allowed Germany to take over Western Europe and Poland/The Balkans.

It literally doesn't change the calculus from this point on at all. Unless you have time travel or something. The facts on the ground are the facts on the ground. The fact of the matter is that the Assad Regime is the only serious hope for a secular and modern Syria.

I mean c'mon is it really that hard for some people to have just a little bit of realism in their foreign policy outlook? Things aren't always ideal and sometimes the Devil you know is better then the one you don't.

Mubarak went out with dignity.

No, he didn't.

[Cory]

Islamofascists. It is what they are and always will be.

I didn't know a mixed economy based on syndicalism, nationalism and "class cooperation" was such a big deal to the Islamic State.

[Cory]

Obama invokes Iraq War authorization...in Syria.

Well technically they are an enemy operating in Iraq that has forces in Syria, thus triggering the mutual defense agreement as legal justification for attacking them there as well. Or am I missing something?