So what is everyone's thoughts on Obama's plan for ISIS?

[Tank]

In my opinion, we have no friends in the Middle East. I wouldn't even consider the Kurds friends.

 

the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

[Tank]

There are so many problems with arming middle-easterners, the least of which is not the fact that you cannot assess the loyalties of the individuals tasked with manning the weapons. How do we know that Abdul Bin Iraqi isn't some crazy Caliphatist? Besides that, as soon as shit looks grim, what is to stop these guys from just joining the the extremist groups in the interest of self-preservation? 

 

without a doubt, our strategy in the region has been insane. not sure what the alternatives are at this point, but i wish it were possible for us to pull all of our resources out and start over with a different plan. the only problem with that is hanging several people out to dry and deal with the fallout.

[TobiasFunke]

the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

In the end, they are still our enemy

[Tank]

In the end, they are still our enemy

 

yeah, it's not a perfect strategy.

[arch stanton]

is it common knowledge that when we sell weapons, planes, tanks, etc to foreign countries that we give them a scaled down model of what we use? they are purposely not getting 100% of our technology.

I don't know about guns and stuff but the high end things they buy are the same as ours, hardware wise. They don't always get the most updated operational software and there are some systems they can't have but for the most part they get the good stuff.

[Jay]

You would think though that there would be some mechanism to prevent complex systems like tanks from falling into enemy hands, like software that expires or something.  If the software isn't updated weekly for example then the big gun on the tank won't operate.  I'm sure they thought of that already but seems strange that ISIS can be running around wreaking havoc with our tanks.

[arch stanton]

A lot of systems have initialization files that are cartridge loaded in order to operate, especially guidance and targeting systems.

[Hollyw00d]

ISIS probably has found a way to fake it, or bypass it. A lot of people forget that these guys have international support and knowledge of advanced technology. I'm sure they have their own techies working on things like this.

They're not fighting with bows and arrows and shit

[Jay]

ISIS probably has found a way to fake it, or bypass it. A lot of people forget that these guys have international support and knowledge of advanced technology. I'm sure they have their own techies working on things like this.

They're not fighting with bows and arrows and shit

 

Apparently that's the case although I haven't heard of ISIS actually using tanks against any targets.

[Hollyw00d]

Kurdish officials have confirmed ISIS has used US tanks and equipment

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/what-makes-isis-deadly-also-makes-it-vulnerable-to-air-power-28ae7312603d

[Jay]

It says tank report unconfirmed but nothing would surprise me.  In my hypothetical scenario above it would be possible to use a tank for a period of time after capture but who knows if we're doing anything like that.

[Tank]

It says tank report unconfirmed but nothing would surprise me.  In my hypothetical scenario above it would be possible to use a tank for a period of time after capture but who knows if we're doing anything like that.

 

time to send in the A-10 warthogs.

[gotbeer]

time to send in the A-10 warthogs.

 

Weren't they retired out of service?

[TobiasFunke]

They've been threatened to get decommissioned for the last 20 years. They're so effective though that they're still used.

[arch stanton]

Yeah there's not really anything in the fleet that can handle low level missions like an A-10 but the newer weapons allow Strike Eagles or F-16s to do most of the work from a little higher altitude .Although when it comes to wreaking havoc that 30 mm gun is unequaled.

[Jay]

They also have the AC-130

[Adam]

They've also go slingshots 

[arch stanton]

 

This is the way to deal with tanks.

 

 

This is how you pull the rabbits out of the holes

[TobiasFunke]

All of those precision munitions are great. Too bad we still find crafty ways on killing civilians.

[arch stanton]

As General Sherman said, "War is hell, not a square dance".

 

I can't think of a single scenario in which some civilians don't get killed. At some point you have to do your best to minimize it while still getting some positive results but knowing you are likely to kill some innocents.

[Jay]

Still that number will be relatively small compared to ISIS atrocities:

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/isis-war-crimes-in-iraq-include-mass-executions-sex-slavery-un-says-1.2785054

[TobiasFunke]

As General Sherman said, "War is hell, not a square dance".

 

 

Times are different and so is American humanity. Back then Northerners didn't give a shit how many southerners were killed during Sherman's campaign through Georgia. The more the merrier. Also, we were in an actual war. Not whatever the hell Obama wants to call this.

[arch stanton]

Times are different and so is American humanity. Back then Northerners didn't give a shit how many southerners were killed during Sherman's campaign through Georgia. The more the merrier. Also, we were in an actual war. Not whatever the hell Obama wants to call this

Can you name a scenario where only the bad guys die? That's the point I'm making.

[TobiasFunke]

I get your point. Maybe if we properly declared war on IS I wouldn't have as big of a problem with it as I do now when this phoney skirmish we're doing now.

[floplag]

the root problem here is that we have declared war on an ideal, not a nation or specific identifiable group of people.  This isnt war, in uniform.. that idea seems to have died decades ago.. today its all about anonymous tactics and ideals which dont have flags, or borders.

Unless they are walking around with name tags on, which based on the masks and such they are more interested in hiding and being cowards than standing front and center for their ideals, we really dont have a friggin clue who we are supposed to be killing.
as a result its way to easy to say we hit civilians even if we actually hit 100% of the target because they are civilians.

Unless we catch them in their cowards veils, we dont know.  At least Bin Ladin had the courage to say it to our faces, these guys hide like cockroaches afraid we will find them.. its a nation of cowardice as much as it is terror.