Should the US send troops to Iraq to get rid of ISIS?

[shortylickens]

If we do, it needs to be fast, brutal, and complete.

None of this fucking around for 10 years bullshit.

 

[Atreus21]

Frankly, I think either we go to them, or they come to us.

 

[Atreus21]

If we do, it needs to be fast, brutal, and complete.

None of this fucking around for 10 years bullshit.

Initially, I agree.

But we'd have to maintain a presence there, almost permanently.

 

[shortylickens]

Initially, I agree.

But we'd have to maintain a presence there, almost permanently.

We dont have the freakin manpower to occupy every damn country with problems. Even China couldnt do that.

 

[John Connor]

We need a military base in Iraq! We had them throughout Europe and Japan after WWII (we still do). Because the war on terror will be with us until you and I reach our coffins!

 

[bradley]

Frankly, I think either we go to them, or they come to us.

They hate our freedoms: our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other.

They want to overthrow existing governments in many Muslim countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. They want to drive Israel out of the Middle East. They want to drive Christians and Jews out of vast regions of Asia and Africa.

These terrorists kill not merely to end lives, but to disrupt and end a way of life. With every atrocity, they hope that America grows fearful, retreating from the world and forsaking our friends. They stand against us because we stand in their way.

We're not deceived by their pretenses to piety.

We have seen their kind before. They're the heirs of all the murderous ideologies of the 20th century. By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions, by abandoning every value except the will to power, they follow in the path of fascism, Nazism and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way to where it ends in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies.

This is not, however, just America's fight. And what is at stake is not just America's freedom.

This is the world's fight. This is civilization's fight. This is the fight of all who believe in progress and pluralism, tolerance and freedom.

Damn, Americans have short memories. Now let's kill these muthafuckas and triple the amount of ice we sell to Eskimos.

 

[John Connor]

In the 1930's another group was just brushed off. They were the Nazis.

 

[Michael]

At this point they would, at best, just retreat to Syria.

This is an Iraq problem as they were invaded from Syria.

Helping Iraq, in the form of air strikes, to fight their fight is Ok for now and there probably is no need to do more at this point.

Obama's error was the political call to withdraw totally. However, inside the country the local politicians did their own work to screw themselves up.

Michael

 

[crashtech]

In the 1930's another group was just brushed off. They were the Nazis.

That's a shopworn invocation. It sounds like talk radio boilerplate, the kind of stuff that was turning me away from talk a decade ago. In the four decades that I have been observing politics, every man or group that has been breathlessly compared to Hitler or the Nazis has in retrospect fallen just a bit short.

 

[trenchfoot]

They hate our freedoms: our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other.

They want to overthrow existing governments in many Muslim countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. They want to drive Israel out of the Middle East. They want to drive Christians and Jews out of vast regions of Asia and Africa.

These terrorists kill not merely to end lives, but to disrupt and end a way of life. With every atrocity, they hope that America grows fearful, retreating from the world and forsaking our friends. They stand against us because we stand in their way.

We're not deceived by their pretenses to piety.

We have seen their kind before. They're the heirs of all the murderous ideologies of the 20th century. By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions, by abandoning every value except the will to power, they follow in the path of fascism, Nazism and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way to where it ends in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies.

This is not, however, just America's fight. And what is at stake is not just America's freedom.

This is the world's fight. This is civilization's fight. This is the fight of all who believe in progress and pluralism, tolerance and freedom.

Damn, Americans have short memories. Now let's kill these muthafuckas and triple the amount of ice we sell to Eskimos.

I may not agree with a couple of the things you posted here, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading it nonetheless. :thumbsup:

 

[Jaskalas]

Initially, I agree.

But we'd have to maintain a presence there, almost permanently.

We have suffered 58,130+ Casualties (wounded and killed) in a desert on the other side of the planet since 911. More than twice as many Americans killed over there, than on that day. For what? WHY?!

Per our glorious "world saving" actions, ISIS was born. We turned Iraq into a terrorist state. Why would anyone want to permanently pile on to that "success" story?
Have you not learned the consequences of our actions?

 

[crashtech]

It's practically axiomatic that those eager to solve problems with guns and bombs have not actually been in-country personally attempting to execute their ideology. Those who make it home from such adventures have a much clearer idea of what can be done when constrained by modern rules of engagement than those of us opining from behind a computer screen.

 

[soundforbjt]

Frankly, I think either we go to them, or they come to us.

How are they going to get here?

 

[networkman]

Mike Rivero from WRH stated it best:

"How about stolen Kuwaiti incubators, the lie that tricked America into the first invasion of Iraq? Or Saddam's nuclear weapons, the lie that tricked America into the second invasion of Iraq?"

Revisionist-history crap.

The argument was not on whether Saddam possessed nuclear weapons, it was on the fact that he had weapons of mass destruction, WMDs, of which nuclear is one such example.

We already had proof that he possessed chemical weapons as both sides used them in the various Iran-Iraq wars, AND Saddam used those same chemical weapons to devastating effect on the people in his territory, the Kurds to the north. He was in the process of developing biological weapons and was known to be associated with various terror groups, thus the US fear that he would allow such groups access to said weapons as a proxy for other actions.

During the build-up of coalition forces in Kuwait prior to the invasion, intelligence suggested the elite Republican Guard was already busy stashing caches of weapons and WMDs in case the war didn't go as well as the Iraqi command hoped. It is only a matter of time before those weapons are re-discovered or someone sets them off accidentally, at which point you'll get your confirmation and Bush will be proved right again.

As for the poll, I have no desire to see us commit ground forces in the country without a well stated and well thought out list of objectives, as well as a plan(and contingencies) for both entry and exit once the objectives are accomplished.

Edit: To note that I did vote "Other" and have provided the asked-for explanation above.

 

[John Connor]

How are they going to get here?

Same way Mexicans get here?

 

[shortylickens]

How are they going to get here?

A lot of them will sneak in by boat at unwatched ports. They'll bring weapons with them, or the drugs & cash needed to trade for weapons here.

 

[Nebor]

How are they going to get here?

Rafts made of bandaids and bubble gum.

 

[kage69]

They hate our freedoms: our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other.

/facepalm


I'm surprised to see someone still trying to sell that, and feel sad for anyone who believes it. It smacks of the detached, ideological 'view the world through a keyhole' mentality that Cheney and his cohorts had when they got us into this mess to begin with, not to mention being more than a little ridiculous.


Question for you: what do you think bothers muslim right wing extremists more? The brutal dictator we install and support in his native country, or him knowing somehow, in a different hemisphere, people he's never met are listening to free speech on the radio while they drive to church.


Can't argue with the short memory comment though. I've been listening to amnesia run rampant within the GOTP since 2008. Preach on.

 

[John Connor]

WTF are you talking about...?

 

[irishScott]

Troops have already been sent in the form of special forces and pilots, as they should be. So long as the Peshmerga and Iraqi forces can do the heavy lifting, let them.

But one way or another we can't tolerate ISIS, they would inevitably become a breeding ground for terrorism if they ever stabilized. I don't think it's worth it to pull another Iraq and take over Syria, but at the very least they should be contained.