ISIS burns Jordanian Pilot alive

[PottedMeat]

Holy shit--can we elect this guy as our president? I'm not too bothered by that whole "king" thing...

i dunno, hes a voyager fan

 

[TechBoyJK]

Queen Rania is one classy lady.

 

[SlowSpyder]

http://twitchy.com/2015/02/04/hard-...n-combat-gear-and-ready-to-fight-isis-photos/

Looking forward to Brian Williams sharing his memories of flying today's combat mission against ISIL with King Abdullah.

I lol'd.

 

[blastingcap]

So what do you suggest be done?

The Iranian leaders you speak of, are they the enemies of the Jordanian people like you claim or are they seeking what's beneficial for themselves? For example, exploiting the fear, ignorance and intolerance of the people like all politicians do.

With attitudes like "He's my enemy," how can it ever be possible to sit together and talk things out? Or is that considered totally out of the question? I mean, you and I are the same if you get beyond our physical and geographical differences. We both are living our selfish lives trying to become "better." Then why call the other guy your enemy? Leave that for the politicians. Just live your life.

So long as Iran is a theocratic dictatorship, it is an enemy.

Khamenei has personally ordered assassinations against his opponents, steals, arrests or kills anyone who opposes him, routinely calls for Israel's destruction, denounces the US at every turn, and is basically a hypocritical dictator. Iran is corrupt as hell under him.

http://www.reuters.com/investigates/iran/
http://ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2014/12/irankurd1181.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mykonos_restaurant_assassinations
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/12/iran-ahmadinejad-legacy-corruption.html
http://www.amazon.com/Iranian-Chroni...dp/B009HWI22K/

Iran sponsors terrorist Shia militias which attacked US troops during the post-2003 occupation and terrorize Sunni Arabs today.

Iran sponsors Hezbollah and its terrorist operations.

Iran supported Maliki and his corrupt and abusive administration. Simiarly, Iran supported Assad when nobody else but Russia would. Maliki is famously corrupt and abused the Sunnis, creating conditions ripe for ISIL to gain support. And without Iranian support Assad would have had to flee the country and maybe we would get something better. Instead, we got a multiyear Syrian civil war that created a power vacuum for ISIL to step into and recruit from.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

So long as Iran is a theocratic dictatorship, it is an enemy.

So we don't like Iran. I don't like it's leadership either. It would have been great if nitwit Bush hadn't made sure the moderates got completely undermined by his stupidity, but here we are.

So sanctions aren't working. Diplomacy isn't making progress. That leaves war, like it does with ISIS. Do we institute a draft for this million man army now or later?

 

[kage69]

Holy shit I called it! I was speaking to my wife about recent ISIS news night before last, after she asked me about the pilot being murdered. Kinda turned into a run down on Jordan as she's not too familiar with them beyond stuff regarding Queen Noor. I was telling her how pissed the Jordanians are and said 'watch, Abdullah is going to hit them back personally, bring a battalion size force into Iraq and snuff a whole ISIS contingent over night.' I was thinking air strikes coordinated with special forces assaults though, but this is close enough!

Abdullah is like Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said. Not a chicken, not a hawk, and not afraid to lead from the front and get shot at. Love those guys! Give'em hell Abdullah, they deserve no less.

 

[blastingcap]

So we don't like Iran. I don't like it's leadership either. It would have been great if nitwit Bush hadn't made sure the moderates got completely undermined by his stupidity, but here we are.

So sanctions aren't working. Diplomacy isn't making progress. That leaves war, like it does with ISIS. Do we institute a draft for this million man army now or later?

Stop putting words into people's mouths. Nobody said anything about invading like 2003.

 

[Nebor]

Jordan's King Abdullah leading airstrikes himself.

http://toprightnews.com/?p=8221

I can't wait to hear the story of what it was like to be in that cockpit with King Abdullah, carrying out strikes against ISIS. There's nothing quite like Brian William's first hand accounts.

 

[bshole]

Well I certainly hope Jordan doesn't get too mixed up in this mess. They are a very small country and ISIS could rain hell down on them. They should have just backed off as the UAE did. No need to extend this conflict outside the boundaries of Iraq and Syria.

Remember that this pilot did drop bombs on ISIS..... bombs that may have killed women and children. He was not some random innocent civillian. He was an active participant in the war. Remember that in WWII during the storming of Normandy, Americans burned Germans of their bunkers and let them die.

 

[Nebor]

Well I certainly hope Jordan doesn't get too mixed up in this mess. They are a very small country and ISIS could rain hell down on them. They should have just backed off as the UAE did. No need to extend this conflict outside the boundaries of Iraq and Syria.

Strong understanding of middle eastern foreign affairs. ISIS can't confront even a half-way decent military. The Iranians are kicking the shit out of them all over the place. Western Special Forces are killing hundreds of them a month in direct engagements. But moreover, the US would never allow ISIS to "rain hell" on Jordan. Do you even know why Jordan wasn't swept up in the Arab Spring? I'll give you one guess, it starts with a "central" and ends with an "agency."

 

[mizzou]

Well I certainly hope Jordan doesn't get too mixed up in this mess. They are a very small country and ISIS could rain hell down on them. They should have just backed off as the UAE did. No need to extend this conflict outside the boundaries of Iraq and Syria.

Remember that this pilot did drop bombs on ISIS..... bombs that may have killed women and children. He was not some random innocent civillian. He was an active participant in the war. Remember that in WWII during the storming of Normandy, Americans burned Germans of their bunkers and let them die.

We have mixed reactions here about ISIS.

They are either so small and insignificant we shouldn't shed a tear over anything they do. Or, don't provoke them because they can obliterate a sovereign nation.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Stop putting words into people's mouths. Nobody said anything about invading like 2003.

I'm trying to get you to say anything other than 2003 and that there are bad people.

There is ISIS and Iran. The former is not some 12 foot giant like the cartoon seems to say so let's go with Iran who is its own entity, and as I said neither diplomacy nor sanctions have taken them off our list of woes. Now what?

 

[blastingcap]

I'm trying to get you to say anything other than 2003 and that there are bad people.

There is ISIS and Iran. The former is not some 12 foot giant like the cartoon seems to say so let's go with Iran who is its own entity, and as I said neither diplomacy nor sanctions have taken them off our list of woes. Now what?

I was replying to someone else's post who seemed ignorant of Iran's shadiness. I was not replying to you. Since you seem to want to pick a fight, why don't you tell us what YOU would do?

 

[tracerbullet]

I was replying to someone else's post

But you quoted his post, hence the reply. FYI.

 

[zinfamous]

I can't wait to hear the story of what it was like to be in that cockpit with King Abdullah, carrying out strikes against ISIS. There's nothing quite like Brian William's first hand accounts.

:sneaky:

 

[blastingcap]

But you quoted his post, hence the reply. FYI.

I posted http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=37145954&postcount=179 which was responding to "Raildogg."

Haya then butted in and implied I was advocating invasion of Iran.

So no, I did not quote Haya's post except to say "Stop putting words into people's mouths. Nobody said anything about invading like 2003." That was the extent of it.

 

[brandonb]

Strong understanding of middle eastern foreign affairs. ISIS can't confront even a half-way decent military. The Iranians are kicking the shit out of them all over the place. Western Special Forces are killing hundreds of them a month in direct engagements. But moreover, the US would never allow ISIS to "rain hell" on Jordan. Do you even know why Jordan wasn't swept up in the Arab Spring? I'll give you one guess, it starts with a "central" and ends with an "agency."

So what you're saying is that the CIA sponsored all the unrest in the Arab world. Makes sense. I always believed it. And who runs the CIA? Does it start with J and end with W?

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I was replying to someone else's post who seemed ignorant of Iran's shadiness. I was not replying to you. Since you seem to want to pick a fight, why don't you tell us what YOU would do?

What would I do? I'd get back into the human intel business ASAP and in a major way and figure out what the heck is really going on. Any moderates we could identify (and there used to be a lot) could help us and we them in this regard. Right now all we have is supposition, but if we don't screw the pooch yet again eventually moderates will resurface. What we need to not do is show our support for anyone because that's a kiss of political death on a good day. Insults and attempts at overthrow are just going to turn around and bite us. We're looking at a decade+ process.

 

[blastingcap]

What would I do? I'd get back into the human intel business ASAP and in a major way and figure out what the heck is really going on. Any moderates we could identify (and there used to be a lot) could help us and we them in this regard. Right now all we have is supposition, but if we don't screw the pooch yet again eventually moderates will resurface. What we need to not do is show our support for anyone because that's a kiss of political death on a good day. Insults and attempts at overthrow are just going to turn around and bite us. We're looking at a decade+ process.

Not mutually exclusive with sanctions and diplomacy.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Not mutually exclusive with sanctions and diplomacy.

They certainly are not. All can be done, but it's about time we plan for the long haul and get smarter. I'm not a fan of drawing red lines and almost leading the nation into war to satisfy a politician's pride isn't something I can approve of as if any of them cared what we though anyway. If Iran resolves itself sooner or later, that's one thing, but to be perpetually uninformed and ignorant as a nation is foolish. The two things which always come back to haunt us is ignorance and hubris.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Can anyone explain to me the Israel / Jordan relationship? I know they've had conflict in the past, but today are both allies of the US and seem to be peaceful towards one another. If ISIS did attack Jordan and was close to Israel, what might happen? I imagine if Israel got involved, that may cause some problems. Either way I think the US would do a lot to help keep Jordan stable, but what do you guys think?

 

[bshole]

But moreover, the US would never allow ISIS to "rain hell" on Jordan. Do you even know why Jordan wasn't swept up in the Arab Spring? I'll give you one guess, it starts with a "central" and ends with an "agency."

So all ISIS has to do to get American boots back in is to invade Jordan?
We kick their ass on the battlefield and then get whittled down by IEDs over the course of a 10 year occupation at which time a group even worse than ISIS emerges? Haven't we played this record before? Do you not understand that there is no such thing as "winning" over there? If the people of Iraq/Syria want a caliphate, let them have it. They will be a bulwark against Iran.

 

[blastingcap]

The two things which always come back to haunt us is ignorance and hubris.

Which is why I am making it clear the kind of leadership Iran has, to those who think "oh they aren't that bad." They are. Iranian people are a lot less extreme and many don't like the government. But the Iranian government? Corrupt, hypocritical, state sponsor of terrorism. Iran is corrupt and the leadership tries to get its people to focus on OTHER countries like Israel and USA instead of looking inward, to cling to power.

The theocrats even try to rewrite history; the Iranian revolution was not a purely Islamic revolution--the theocrats killed, imprisoned, and persecuted their one-time allies (Communists, Kurds, etc.) and continue to suppress free speech and journalism and even basic communication.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/14/living/rich-kids-tehran-instagram/
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/12/iran-ahmadinejad-legacy-corruption.html

My personal favorite is how Khamenei, who personally ordered the deaths of Kurdish and other leaders, steals property from others, and censors out Twitter in Iran for the people (http://opennet.net/research/profiles/iran), yet uses Twitter himself (http://twitter.com/khamenei_ir) to spread self-serving propaganda and nastygrams about US problems like racism, as if Iran doesn't suppress its minorities far worse, jail journalists/lawyers/moderates, etc.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...5dcf34-4b0f-11e3-be6b-d3d28122e6d4_story.html
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/11/13/how-iran-jails-journalists-and-human-rights-lawyers/

And I find it hilarious that his most recent tweet claims that Iran respects women. Ask Iranian women what they think about that statement, lol.

http://www.reuters.com/investigates/iran/
http://ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2014/12/irankurd1181.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mykonos_restaurant_assassinations
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/12/iran-ahmadinejad-legacy-corruption.html
http://www.amazon.com/Iranian-Chroni...dp/B009HWI22K/

And it's unseemly how whenever Iran tries to portray itself as moderate for some PR reason, it trots out how women can go to college there or something like that, but when moderates demand more power, the ruling elite kills, imprisons and persecutes them.

And as for Iran continually accusing others of stoking Shia-Sunni friction, Iran deserves a special hypocrisy award for that, considering that they backed Assad and Maliki to the hilt and gave weapons and money to Shiite militias who terrorize Sunnis.

 

[Fern]

Yea but they lack the manufacturing and infrastructure to pose much of a menace to the world at large. Germany was a world power, these guys are very low end third world at best. A tempest in a teapot. Let them squabble amongst themselves. As long as we get our oil and our interests are not threatened, it really is none of our business.

This is a different world now. Serious threats to a country are no longer limited to divisions of soldiers blitzkrieging through your country.

IMO, cyber warfare and economic warfare are more a danger to a modern Western or Asian country than invasion and occupation. And cyber warfare is mostly aimed at economic warfare.

Over half the world's proven oil reserves lie in that area. If ISIS gained control or seriously disrupted production the effects on economies around the world could be severe, perhaps even devastating.

This is not a new concern by any stretch: The Carter Doctrine

The following key sentence, which was written by Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter's National Security Adviser, concludes the section:

Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.

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

-snip-
And they really do need one, unfortunately. I'm not sure if it's The West's fear that our enemies will be the victors (Well, they are all pretty much some flavor of our enemy--except for The Kurds, I guess), and the further issue of meddling with the new state that we didn't want.

Or just a fear of not aiding our "allies"? what allies? The Saudi's--those fucking wahabist asswhipes that actively bred all of this bullshit?

Yeah, a major civil war in the M.E. would be great, except for the above. Bill Maher is a comedian, it might be best to look for foreign policy suggestions elsewhere. I admit the idea of those in the M.E. staging a knock down battle among themselves has some appeal, at least until you give it a few seconds thought. Personally, I'm already sick of watching ethnic and religious minorities be slaughtered while we sit back and do nothing.

But yeah, I think there has to be some concern about who might prevail. Does anybody, anybody, want to see a consolidated ISIS-type state stretching from Turkey's Southern border down through and across the Maghreb to Morocco?

You do know they've said they want to reclaim parts of Europe?

I just hope they can be restrained to Iraq and Syria. But that's not looking certain at this point.

Fern

 

[GoPackGo]

Holy shit--can we elect this guy as our president? I'm not too bothered by that whole "king" thing...

Now we know why the king is completely pissed...not only did ISIS kill a citizen and a soldier but a fellow military pilot.

For ISIS from a strategic standpoint this was a major fuckup.