CIA says ISIS @ 30k fighters. Who is suppling them with $ and arms?

[Nebor]

This was conducted by the Belgian King and government, Eisenhower and the CIA, and MI5.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dag_Hammarskjöld

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrice_Lumumba

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Ndola_United_Nations_DC-6_Crash

That was a well executed operation. :thumbsup:

 

[kage69]

He is nowhere near consideration as Sun Tzu. He probably got into deep political infighting with the defense companies and so decided to try to shit on them on the way out of his job.

Didn't say he was superior, or even an equal, why are you ignoring my emphasis there?
Try not to assume what others think about subjects you don't understand very well. I probably could have worded that a little better, but I get the impression you don't know the quote of Sun Tzu's I am referring to (without googling anyway). If you did, I'd like to think my post wouldn't have sailed past your head so easily.

Eisenhower was pretty familiar with Sun Tzu (and Clausewitz), and employed some key concepts that initiated the beginning of the end for Hitler's 3rd Reich. Don't suppose terms like 'Garbo' and Le Pas de Calais mean anything to you regarding Eisenhower, do they? I hope so, as that is kinda what I was talking about, not some ATOT-esque Eisenhower vs Sun Tzu: FIGHT! tally of accomplishments, victories, etc.

 

[norseamd]

Well I am not an expert on the military knowledge of Eisenhower so I will give way to you. But in reality even Sun Tzu is not that noble considering he executed 2 concubines just because they did not know anything about war. For real now? Did he actually think they were going to be able to do anything concerning war? I get that he was basically concerned with influencing the king but that was a very dishonorable and evil way to accomplish his task.

 

[werepossum]

Reports that Iraq/Maliki asked us for help with ISIS for over a year have been reported for a while.

Here's an example: http://www.aei-ideas.org/2014/07/ob...e-august-2013-for-drone-strikes-against-isis/

Fern

Thanks, I did not know that. The Hill piece is pretty good, makes clear that both parties were lamenting our lack of action. Thiessen's piece isn't so good - he includes things like "We already knew that the rise of ISIS was made possible by Obama’s decision to withdraw all American forces from Iraq, against the advice of his military commanders." Obama pulled out under Bush's timetable because the elected Iraqi government refused to extend our troops' exemption from Iraqi law. I don't believe that any of our military commanders recommended that ground troops stay under those circumstances.

I do agree that Obama has been intentionally sleeping on this. One caveat to this though - I can see not acting on requests made secretly. Far too often we've acted on secret requests from Middle Eastern and other Muslim leaders, allowing us to do their dirty work while they publicly attack us for doing what they privately begged us to do. I don't know that's what's behind Obama's lack of action, but to what degree (if any) that factors in, I support that. If they want our help, then they need to publicly acknowledge asking.

Didn't say he was superior, or even an equal, why are you ignoring my emphasis there?
Try not to assume what others think about subjects you don't understand very well. I probably could have worded that a little better, but I get the impression you don't know the quote of Sun Tzu's I am referring to (without googling anyway). If you did, I'd like to think my post wouldn't have sailed past your head so easily.

Eisenhower was pretty familiar with Sun Tzu (and Clausewitz), and employed some key concepts that initiated the beginning of the end for Hitler's 3rd Reich. Don't suppose terms like 'Garbo' and Le Pas de Calais mean anything to you regarding Eisenhower, do they? I hope so, as that is kinda what I was talking about, not some ATOT-esque Eisenhower vs Sun Tzu: FIGHT! tally of accomplishments, victories, etc.

Agreed. Eisenhower may not have been Sun Tzu, but he was a hell of a student.

 

[kage69]

Well I am not an expert on the military knowledge of Eisenhower so I will give way to you. But in reality even Sun Tzu is not that noble considering he executed 2 concubines just because they did not know anything about war. For real now? Did he actually think they were going to be able to do anything concerning war? I get that he was basically concerned with influencing the king but that was a very dishonorable and evil way to accomplish his task.

Speaking for myself here, I'm not expecting expertise on your part when you bark at me for misconstruing one of my posts. I'd settle for you just recognizing the primary relevance deception has with Sun Tzu's treatise on warfare, as well as WWII's most famous invasion and Eisenhower's military legacy. You know, the absolute basics,

No idea why you're bringing being "noble" into this when we've been speaking in the context of strategy and tactics, but it's pretty funny to hear you use that one story as a some kind of disqualifier for a long and lasting career and legacy. In the story you cited, Sun Tzu sided with his honor as commander, as opposed to following Wu's wishes to spare his two favorites. Dishonorable huh? Right, and that's why Wu kept him on and gave him an army.

Go read some more and quit responding to my posts will ya?

 

[jpeyton]

and who is supplying ISIS with $ for food?

Their app is free for end users, but I imagine Amex, Chase and Wells Fargo have some kind of deal setup that pays out per user or per swipe.

 

[norseamd]

Speaking for myself here, I'm not expecting expertise on your part when you bark at me for misconstruing one of my posts. I'd settle for you just recognizing the primary relevance deception has with Sun Tzu's treatise on warfare, as well as WWII's most famous invasion and Eisenhower's military legacy. You know, the absolute basics, No idea why you're bringing being "noble" into this when we've been speaking in the context of strategy and tactics, but it's pretty funny to hear you use that one story as a some kind of disqualifier for a long and lasting career and legacy. In the story you cited, Sun Tzu sided with his honor as commander, as opposed to following Wu's wishes to spare his two favorites. Dishonorable huh? Right, and that's why Wu kept him on and gave him an army. Go read some more and quit responding to my posts will ya?

I think you have no idea what the meaning of the word honor actually is.

 

[kage69]

I think you have no idea what the meaning of the word honor actually is.

I think my earlier advice of "Try not to assume what others think about subjects you don't understand very well" applies pretty well here.

Try reading about the men you think you know. Just think of what it could do for your posts!