Yes. JTAC's and offensive SOF forces in Iraq are desperately needed. As for Syria, I have no fucking clue. FSA is so irrelevant now and I don't think we're serious about building it back up. Al Qaeda basically owns the opposition now.
Quote from: SgtMag1 on May 23, 2015, 09:18:09 AMYes. JTAC's and offensive SOF forces in Iraq are desperately needed. As for Syria, I have no fucking clue. FSA is so irrelevant now and I don't think we're serious about building it back up. Al Qaeda basically owns the opposition now.Oh shit, man, good to see you. About time you turned up here; we need some more people with an interest and understanding of foreign policy: OT: some infantry support for the Kurds, increased air strikes, more covert operations and maybe even a ground assault on Dabiq wouldn't go amiss.
Quote from: SgtMag1 on May 23, 2015, 09:18:09 AMYes. JTAC's and offensive SOF forces in Iraq are desperately needed. As for Syria, I have no fucking clue. FSA is so irrelevant now and I don't think we're serious about building it back up. Al Qaeda basically owns the opposition now.For Syria, there is one idea I can think of for ground proxies to back (which the US has already backed to some extent). Ever heard of Euphrates Volcano? They've been operating in Kobane canton with the YPG, and they're fighting exclusively against IS. But then there's the whole thing of Turkey supporting IS, as well as them sharing the only land border with Kobane.
Quote from: Not Comms Officer on May 23, 2015, 05:02:28 PMQuote from: SgtMag1 on May 23, 2015, 09:18:09 AMYes. JTAC's and offensive SOF forces in Iraq are desperately needed. As for Syria, I have no fucking clue. FSA is so irrelevant now and I don't think we're serious about building it back up. Al Qaeda basically owns the opposition now.For Syria, there is one idea I can think of for ground proxies to back (which the US has already backed to some extent). Ever heard of Euphrates Volcano? They've been operating in Kobane canton with the YPG, and they're fighting exclusively against IS. But then there's the whole thing of Turkey supporting IS, as well as them sharing the only land border with Kobane.Yeah, I've heard of them. For the record, I'm an official analyst now. A good portion of my job deals with Syria--there isn't much I haven't heard of there. I support funding them, but they won't be an army. We would need a large-scale fighting force to fight both IS and the Assad regime, which can't happen. I know you support Assad, which is fine, but I'm not going to debate who you or I should support. We've been down this road before and got nowhere. I also support funding and arming the YPG, but like other Kurdish groups, they couldn't care less about anything other than Kurdistan. So, we don't really have a Syria strategy, and to be honest, I don't know what one would look like right now.
They need to get the fucking border secured, for starters. It's all well and good to say Iraq and Syria need to fight their own battles, but a steady flow of supplies and arms into Iraqi cities controlled by ISIS coupled with Iraq's poorly-trained and ill-equipped army means that strategy will ultimately see Iraq swallowed by ISIS, used as a staging ground against the Syrian front. We need more SOF teams, more airstrikes, and boots on the ground. Hesitancy to deploy troops because of an upcoming campaign is holding back progress.
Quote from: HurtfulTurkey on May 23, 2015, 05:17:19 PMThey need to get the fucking border secured, for starters. It's all well and good to say Iraq and Syria need to fight their own battles, but a steady flow of supplies and arms into Iraqi cities controlled by ISIS coupled with Iraq's poorly-trained and ill-equipped army means that strategy will ultimately see Iraq swallowed by ISIS, used as a staging ground against the Syrian front. We need more SOF teams, more airstrikes, and boots on the ground. Hesitancy to deploy troops because of an upcoming campaign is holding back progress.That's a pretty tall order when the Syrian and Iraqi Government control literally none of their borders with eachother. And the Syrian/Iraqi Armies are similarly poorly-trained and ill-equipped. But on the other hand, IS doesn't have the manpower, mobility, or resources needed to take either Baghdad or Damascus in the foreseeable future.
Quote from: SgtMag1 on May 23, 2015, 05:15:43 PMQuote from: Not Comms Officer on May 23, 2015, 05:02:28 PMQuote from: SgtMag1 on May 23, 2015, 09:18:09 AMYes. JTAC's and offensive SOF forces in Iraq are desperately needed. As for Syria, I have no fucking clue. FSA is so irrelevant now and I don't think we're serious about building it back up. Al Qaeda basically owns the opposition now.For Syria, there is one idea I can think of for ground proxies to back (which the US has already backed to some extent). Ever heard of Euphrates Volcano? They've been operating in Kobane canton with the YPG, and they're fighting exclusively against IS. But then there's the whole thing of Turkey supporting IS, as well as them sharing the only land border with Kobane.Yeah, I've heard of them. For the record, I'm an official analyst now. A good portion of my job deals with Syria--there isn't much I haven't heard of there. I support funding them, but they won't be an army. We would need a large-scale fighting force to fight both IS and the Assad regime, which can't happen. I know you support Assad, which is fine, but I'm not going to debate who you or I should support. We've been down this road before and got nowhere. I also support funding and arming the YPG, but like other Kurdish groups, they couldn't care less about anything other than Kurdistan. So, we don't really have a Syria strategy, and to be honest, I don't know what one would look like right now.Actually, I'm an opposition supporter now. Watched several videos about what Syria was like before the war, and I realized that Assad is a monster. There needs to be some sort of way to instigate a military coup in Syria, since the Assad family has proven time and time again that they aren't willing to seriously negotiate an end to the war.And shit, you're an official analyst now? Are you working for any institution, or are you just an independent analyst?
We need more SOF teams, more airstrikes, and boots on the ground. Hesitancy to deploy troops because of an upcoming campaign is holding back progress.
Quote from: Not Comms Officer on May 23, 2015, 05:22:16 PMQuote from: HurtfulTurkey on May 23, 2015, 05:17:19 PMThey need to get the fucking border secured, for starters. It's all well and good to say Iraq and Syria need to fight their own battles, but a steady flow of supplies and arms into Iraqi cities controlled by ISIS coupled with Iraq's poorly-trained and ill-equipped army means that strategy will ultimately see Iraq swallowed by ISIS, used as a staging ground against the Syrian front. We need more SOF teams, more airstrikes, and boots on the ground. Hesitancy to deploy troops because of an upcoming campaign is holding back progress.That's a pretty tall order when the Syrian and Iraqi Government control literally none of their borders with eachother. And the Syrian/Iraqi Armies are similarly poorly-trained and ill-equipped. But on the other hand, IS doesn't have the manpower, mobility, or resources needed to take either Baghdad or Damascus in the foreseeable future.Well yeah it's a tall order, but control of the border should never have been allowed to degrade so far. Stopping insurgencies is very difficult with conventional tactics, but cutting off supply lines is an effective start.
Iraq still controls the Iraqi side of Al Waleed, so there's that.
Quote from: SgtMag1 on May 23, 2015, 05:42:00 PMIraq still controls the Iraqi side of Al Waleed, so there's that.That gives them like 1-2% control over their border with Syria. >___>
Option 1: Say "fuck it", walk away and let the Saudis and Iranians figure it out.Option 2: Blow the hell out of both ISIS, Assad, and their respective allies, and stay there for the next God-knows-how-many years as per Marshall Plan V2.0. Spend untold trillions rebuilding both countries from the ground up, and don't leave until they can stand on their own.Option 1 would either result in a big Middle East war or an unending series of proxy wars.Option 2 would most likely bankrupt the US.Since neither are feasible, we are left with Option 3: Containment. Get Syria, Iraq, Iran, the Kurds, what's left of the FSA, and whatever anti-ISIS or nonaligned militia groups are out there to align against ISIS instead of each other, with the US serving as the intelligence lynchpin. There will be some deals with the Devil, but the only other way to take out ISIS is for the US to dramatically escalate its military commitment. Good luck selling "Iraq 3" to the US voters in 2016.
I say we should hire willing Mercenaries to do the work
Quote from: Forgewolf on May 24, 2015, 06:19:27 PMI say we should hire willing Mercenaries to do the workYou do realize that the US hired a lot of mercenaries during the Iraqi War, and they performed miserably. It's a strategy that's not gonna work.
Quote from: Not Comms Officer on May 24, 2015, 06:21:51 PMQuote from: Forgewolf on May 24, 2015, 06:19:27 PMI say we should hire willing Mercenaries to do the workYou do realize that the US hired a lot of mercenaries during the Iraqi War, and they performed miserably. It's a strategy that's not gonna work.Alright. Then lets send our troops over even though many are unwilling to fight a fight we shouldn't be fighting. Nothing is more honorable than risking and possibly dying for someone else's nation.
Quote from: Forgewolf on May 24, 2015, 06:30:57 PMQuote from: Not Comms Officer on May 24, 2015, 06:21:51 PMQuote from: Forgewolf on May 24, 2015, 06:19:27 PMI say we should hire willing Mercenaries to do the workYou do realize that the US hired a lot of mercenaries during the Iraqi War, and they performed miserably. It's a strategy that's not gonna work.Alright. Then lets send our troops over even though many are unwilling to fight a fight we shouldn't be fighting. Nothing is more honorable than risking and possibly dying for someone else's nation.When foreign adversaries like these can greatly affect the American homeland when left unchecked, yes, it's absolutely honorable to die in a preemptive action. These extremist Islamist groups aren't just the middle east's problem, they're our problem and our enemy too.
Quote from: DAS "كافر" B00T on May 24, 2015, 06:37:30 PMQuote from: Forgewolf on May 24, 2015, 06:30:57 PMQuote from: Not Comms Officer on May 24, 2015, 06:21:51 PMQuote from: Forgewolf on May 24, 2015, 06:19:27 PMI say we should hire willing Mercenaries to do the workYou do realize that the US hired a lot of mercenaries during the Iraqi War, and they performed miserably. It's a strategy that's not gonna work.Alright. Then lets send our troops over even though many are unwilling to fight a fight we shouldn't be fighting. Nothing is more honorable than risking and possibly dying for someone else's nation.When foreign adversaries like these can greatly affect the American homeland when left unchecked, yes, it's absolutely honorable to die in a preemptive action. These extremist Islamist groups aren't just the middle east's problem, they're our problem and our enemy too.And who do you think originally created that threat? Who caused the Middle East to destabilize?
Quote from: DAS "كافر" B00T on May 24, 2015, 06:37:30 PMQuote from: Forgewolf on May 24, 2015, 06:30:57 PMQuote from: Not Comms Officer on May 24, 2015, 06:21:51 PMQuote from: Forgewolf on May 24, 2015, 06:19:27 PMI say we should hire willing Mercenaries to do the workYou do realize that the US hired a lot of mercenaries during the Iraqi War, and they performed miserably. It's a strategy that's not gonna work.Alright. Then lets send our troops over even though many are unwilling to fight a fight we shouldn't be fighting. Nothing is more honorable than risking and possibly dying for someone else's nation.When foreign adversaries like these can greatly affect the American homeland when left unchecked, yes, it's absolutely honorable to die in a preemptive action. These extremist Islamist groups aren't just the middle east's problem, they're our problem and our enemy too.And who do you think originally created that threat?
Who caused the Middle East to destabilize?
Who trained Osama Bin Laden back in the Cold War era to help fight off the Soviet hold up in Afghanistan?
Which nation creates as many problems as it tries to solve? Merica
Quote from: Forgewolf on May 24, 2015, 07:09:14 PMQuote from: DAS "كافر" B00T on May 24, 2015, 06:37:30 PMQuote from: Forgewolf on May 24, 2015, 06:30:57 PMQuote from: Not Comms Officer on May 24, 2015, 06:21:51 PMQuote from: Forgewolf on May 24, 2015, 06:19:27 PMI say we should hire willing Mercenaries to do the workYou do realize that the US hired a lot of mercenaries during the Iraqi War, and they performed miserably. It's a strategy that's not gonna work.Alright. Then lets send our troops over even though many are unwilling to fight a fight we shouldn't be fighting. Nothing is more honorable than risking and possibly dying for someone else's nation.When foreign adversaries like these can greatly affect the American homeland when left unchecked, yes, it's absolutely honorable to die in a preemptive action. These extremist Islamist groups aren't just the middle east's problem, they're our problem and our enemy too.And who do you think originally created that threat? Who caused the Middle East to destabilize?Abdul Hamid II
Quote from: DAS "كافر" B00T on May 24, 2015, 07:11:38 PMQuote from: Forgewolf on May 24, 2015, 07:09:14 PMQuote from: DAS "كافر" B00T on May 24, 2015, 06:37:30 PMQuote from: Forgewolf on May 24, 2015, 06:30:57 PMQuote from: Not Comms Officer on May 24, 2015, 06:21:51 PMQuote from: Forgewolf on May 24, 2015, 06:19:27 PMI say we should hire willing Mercenaries to do the workYou do realize that the US hired a lot of mercenaries during the Iraqi War, and they performed miserably. It's a strategy that's not gonna work.Alright. Then lets send our troops over even though many are unwilling to fight a fight we shouldn't be fighting. Nothing is more honorable than risking and possibly dying for someone else's nation.When foreign adversaries like these can greatly affect the American homeland when left unchecked, yes, it's absolutely honorable to die in a preemptive action. These extremist Islamist groups aren't just the middle east's problem, they're our problem and our enemy too.And who do you think originally created that threat? Who caused the Middle East to destabilize?Abdul Hamid IIBack then, we left the Middle East alone.. Did we have acts of terrorism occur in our nation from Middle Eastern people/ideology? Or was it just from groups like the KKK?
How should the US change their anti-IS strategy?
