Uh oh...Iraq

[nate]

Let me rephrase.  That is not my point of view.

 

I am just saying from the point of view that there are 40k people cornered on a mountain.  Similar and much worse occurrences happen every month with no action by our government.

[mtangelsfan]

Oh definitely I agree.  Like I said, it usually only happens if they are white.

[fan_since79]

We didn't do much, if anything, about Rwanda in 1994 and as many as a million people were massacred there.

 

Of course, there weren't billions of barrels of oil in the equation.

Edited August 9, 2014 by fan_since79

[nate]

Burma, The Congo, Ivory Coast, and so on.  Really naming them makes me sad.

 

Hopefully those people on the mountain can be saved.

[Tank]

one big difference here is that these are Christians being persecuted for their faith. that plays big over here and many in this country have a vested interested in the outcome. 

[mtangelsfan]

Christians have been being slaughtered in the Sudan for several years.  

 

one big difference here is that these are Christians being persecuted for their faith. that plays big over here and many in this country have a vested interested in the outcome. 

[Don]

one big difference here is that these are Christians being persecuted for their faith. that plays big over here and many in this country have a vested interested in the outcome.

A lot of them are Zoroastrian Yazidis too.

They did this a few years back:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoning_of_Du'a_Khalil_Aswad

I believe it's possible that the Middle East is just chock full of crazy extremists, and they use religion to justify their craziness. As in the religions were interpreted to accommodate the craziness, not the other way around.

Edited August 9, 2014 by Don

[Mudville]

The US has 5,113 nuclear warheads sitting around not being used. I think three of them could be dropped in a few key locations and then send the message that the Jihad season is officially closed, put down your weapons and go back home and get a job.

[fan_since79]

It appears the air strikes might not be enough to stop the advance of IS on the Kurds.

 

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/middle-east/us-bombs-iraq-to-stop-threat-of-genocide-30494959.html

 

The Isis offensive has shown the Peshmerga, the fighting forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), to be weaker than expected.

They have offered little ­effective resistance in Sinjar and have failed to protect Christian towns in Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital. In a humiliating series of reverses they have retreated back to Kalak, a town on the Greater Zaab river which is the last defensible position on the road to Erbil.

 

The US will have to do more than launch limited air strikes if Isis is to be stopped. Since the “Islamic State” captured Mosul on June 10 it has taken most of northern and western Iraq and last month scored a series of victories in eastern Syria. (Independent News Service)

Edited August 9, 2014 by fan_since79

[Lou]

Start another war?

[arch stanton]

I think the term "middle east" begins to tell the story. This is not a group of like-minded people of a single culture or ethnicity. The world now insists on national identity to create neat packages and easily bought political leadership. You're seeing the results of people trusting governments with the interest of international commerce as their priority to protect them. 

[Spirit]

Mission Accomplished!

 

 

 

[Jay]

one big difference here is that these are Christians being persecuted for their faith. that plays big over here and many in this country have a vested interested in the outcome.

Another difference is the oil.

[Lhalo]

Part 2 of the Vice News doc is out.

[fan_since79]

The president is going to discover that "limited" air strikes will not do the job in the end. In fact, all the air strikes in the world will not eradicate this menace. A massive ground invasion is always needed afterwards to destroy the enemy. But he's right to try to do something. At least we can weaken IS and perhaps the Iraqi army will get their act together, and along with the Kurds, take back the northern part of the country.

[arch stanton]

The president is going to discover that "limited" air strikes will not do the job in the end. In fact, all the air strikes in the world will not eradicate this menace. A massive ground invasion is always needed afterwards to destroy the enemy. But he's right to try to do something. At least we can weaken IS and perhaps the Iraqi army will get their act together, and along with the Kurds, take back the northern part of the country.

We don't have the forces or the national will for an offensive. We'll need a 9/11 type recruiting incident first.

[mtangelsfan]

You know, like bombing a country (Iraq) yesterday. I thought obama "ended" that war?

 

What do you think should happen?

[Jason]

I want this to happen but I have to wonder where other countries are at with this?   It is bs that we always are the ones having to do this.  Where is the UN?

Debating something with no resolution

[AngelsLongBall]

I still think the biggest mistake we made (beyond the obvious) was disbanding the Iraqi army. Started a ten year cycle of shit that will never end

[UndertheHalo]

I still think the biggest mistake we made (beyond the obvious) was disbanding the Iraqi army. Started a ten year cycle of shit that will never end

This is truth.

[Lou]

You know, like bombing a country (Iraq) yesterday. I thought obama "ended" that war?

 

Seems to me IS had already started this war

[Vegas Halo Fan]

To sit back and do nothing would be a huge mistake. So would throwing a large number of troops into this. Action somewhere in the middle is exactly what we should do.

[fan_since79]

Situation going from bad to worse. Military coup underway in Baghdad.

 

http://www.news.com.au/world/troops-surround-baghdad-green-zone-as-outgoing-prime-minister-maliki-appears-to-cling-to-power/story-fndir2ev-1227020033404

[UndertheHalo]

Maliki truly is a scumbag piece of shit. If this really is a coup this is the beginning of the end for Iraq.

Edited August 11, 2014 by UndertheHalo

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Removing Saddam Hussein may not have been the best thing in the long run for the people of Iraq. Of course, the man we had in the White House at the time never stopped to consider that possibility.