BREAKING: US begins air strikes in Syria
- Thread starter 88m3
- Start date
Spidey Man
Superstar
It's more impressive to blow up the floor and an individual cubicle than to level the block. We saving the shock and awe for eastern Europe
I doubt that...
ADevilYouKhow
Rhyme Reason
God I hope so
Futuristic Eskimo
All Star
Pat yourself on the back for being so concerned and caring that you typed a sentence on a message board.
Marwan Bishara
As commander-in-chief of the world's hegemon, Obama cannot just talk; he also needs to walk the walk, writes Bishara [Reuters]
I was speechless for a brief moment after listening to US President Barack Obama's landmark speech about a new strategy against the Islamic State group.
Why, I wondered, after 154 air strikes; after meagre support for the "moderate" Syrian opposition and the same towards the new Iraqi government, the US president declares a new strategy that comprises the same menu?
Didn't he say only a few days ago that he had no strategy? Is one to conclude that the commander-in-chief has concocted a strategy out of the already tried, ad hoc, piecemeal policies that clearly didn't work?
More importantly, why would he announce it at this time?
The commander-in-speech
When it comes to the greater Middle East, Obama can talk the talk. He's analytical, critical, and articulate, even professorial.
In the few interviews he's given over the past few months, he's proven smarter, sharper and more importantly, more cool-headed than his critics in the Washington establishment, notably those who have been nudging him to expand the war effort in the region.
He clearly understands that the Middle East region is going through historic transformations - some triggered by US interventionism, others by regional factors - and recognises why foreign meddling and military solutions are counterproductive at best.
He also insists that the historic record shows that direct foreign intervention in civil wars like the one in Syria, can be long and futile.
He even admitted mistakes, as in Libya, where there was no real follow up after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi by force.
And most importantly, he promised to "end the mindset" that brought about the Iraq war, the "stupid war" as he once called it. The mantra of the administration as understood by those close to him was: "Don't do stupid shyt."
But as commander-in-chief of the world's hegemon, he cannot just talk; he also needs to walk the walk. And so he is, rather half-heartedly.
The pretender-in-chief
Obama knows all too well that a comprehensive Iraq/Syria strategy requires the participation of Iran and Russia, but that neither they nor the US are ready to cooperate considering the nuclear issue and Ukraine.
Until Iran stops meddling in Iraq, while financing, training and arming Shia militias; until Tehran and Riyadh stop their proxy sectarian Shia, Sunni conflicts; until Russia lifts the diplomatic and strategic cover of the Assad regime; little can be done outside the realm of limited and probably aggravating military strikes.
Until Iran stops meddling in Iraq, while financing, training and arming Shia militias; until Tehran and Riyadh stop their proxy sectarian Shia, Sunni conflicts; until Russia lifts the diplomatic and strategic cover of the Assad regime; little can be done outside the realm of limited and probably aggravating military strikes.
But since Obama is reminded each and every day that Washington is the Middle East and world hegemon, he's under increased political and international pressure to lead as the Islamic State group expands its control over large swaths of land in Syria and Iraq.
So he's come up with a half-baked strategy of half measures to fill a void, gain time, and look strong. A strategy that's supposed to stop the escalating crisis in Iraq from spilling over beyond Mesopotamia.
That's if he's lucky. Totally unconvincing and un-strategic, what Obama has done that's totally new, is to commit his administration and the United States to another long-term military involvement that he's tried hard to avoid.
He's clearly not enthused by it, but pragmatic enough to do what it takes. But in order to get away with it, he sets the new adventure in the context of his own brand of "war on terror", all the while insisting that he's not repeating George W Bush's mistakes by not deploying troops on the ground.
The commander ... in brief
Obama told the American people that the new strategy "is consistent with the approach I outlined earlier this year: To use force against anyone who threatens America's core interests".
But what are these core interests?
No such threat to "core interests" was invoked over the last three years, when Iraq was incapacitated by violence, and Syria destroyed with hundreds of thousands of casualties.
Moreover, the Department of Homeland Security has made it clear it was "unaware of any specific credible threat to the US homeland" from the Islamic State, as stated by Francis X Taylor, the undersecretary for intelligence and analysis.
In reality, Obama is continuing in his predecessor's footsteps - albeit reluctantly - by waging more of the same preventive wars against enemies in faraway sovereign states, regardless of the long-term consequences.
He's also embracing the same mindset of the Bush administration that he's long criticised, namely using military strikes and intervention to deal with complicated Arab and Middle Eastern issues.
It won't take long before finding out, once again, that there's no military solution to the protracted problems facing the near and greater Middle East, certainly not without a comprehensive long-term strategy that accounts for friends and foes alike.
Marwan Bishara is the senior political analyst at Al Jazeera.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/09/obama-war-2014911142413797822.html
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Pat yourself on the back for being so concerned and caring that you typed a sentence on a message board.
Justify your own sociopathic tendencies by trying to bring people down to your level off assumptions like a corny version of heath ledger's joker brehs.
Futuristic Eskimo
All Star
You wrote another post about it. Careful breh, you don't want to overburden yourself caring for the innocent dying around the world. Can everyone go back to discussing world affairs without being sociopaths now?
Can everyone go back to discussing world affairs without being sociopaths now?
Some are doing that, some are treating it like a game with chess pieces made of plastic rather than flesh and blood. If you're the former and not the latter, then yes you have my permission. If you're going to lack basic human compassion and respect for the loss of life by treating it like a joke with stupid gifs and cheering on drone strikes then I'll have to think about it and get back to your bytch ass.
Ritzy Sharon
Don't Make Me Pull The Oud Out
@Serious
Lebanon is teetering on the edge, but Lebanon is always teetering on the edge.
the only thing the airstikes accomplished was give IS the anti-imperialist credentials they were desperately looking for.
most of IS fighting force is up north laying siege to the the Kurds but Obeezy is in Raqqa bombing empty buildings.
IS has capitalized on the chaos in Syria, Sunni fear of the Baathist regime and and the wider Saudi-Iranian cold war that has engulfed the region. instead of pushing for a ceasefire in Syria and an end of hostilities between the Oil Kings and the Ayatollahs which will create the conditions where IS can be successfully confronted, Obama opted to join the Syrian civil war as a hostile party and create further destabilization and sectarian fears.
Lebanon is teetering on the edge, but Lebanon is always teetering on the edge.
the only thing the airstikes accomplished was give IS the anti-imperialist credentials they were desperately looking for.
most of IS fighting force is up north laying siege to the the Kurds but Obeezy is in Raqqa bombing empty buildings.
IS has capitalized on the chaos in Syria, Sunni fear of the Baathist regime and and the wider Saudi-Iranian cold war that has engulfed the region. instead of pushing for a ceasefire in Syria and an end of hostilities between the Oil Kings and the Ayatollahs which will create the conditions where IS can be successfully confronted, Obama opted to join the Syrian civil war as a hostile party and create further destabilization and sectarian fears.
Futuristic Eskimo
All Star
I appreciate the permission to continue from the internet's champion of decency and morality. Keep up the good fight breh. You're making a real difference out here
I appreciate the permission to continue from the internet's champion of decency and morality. Keep up the good fight breh. You're making a real difference out here
You got it hoe
@Serious
Lebanon is teetering on the edge, but Lebanon is always teetering on the edge.
the only thing the airstikes accomplished was give IS the anti-imperialist credentials they were desperately looking for.
most of IS fighting force is up north laying siege to the the Kurds but Obeezy is in Raqqa bombing empty buildings.
IS has capitalized on the chaos in Syria, Sunni fear of the Baathist regime and and the wider Saudi-Iranian cold war that has engulfed the region. instead of pushing for a ceasefire in Syria and an end of hostilities between the Oil Kings and the Ayatollahs which will create the conditions where IS can be successfully confronted, Obama opted to join the Syrian civil war as a hostile party and create further destabilization and sectarian fears.
Yup
ISIS signs up more than 6,000 new recruits since American airstrikes began
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...erogatory-Daesh-cutthroats.html#ixzz3Dk4xyNex