Thanks for the link John!
via AP
This is gonna sound cold but this is a Middle Eastern problem. The nations of the region have the military capability to put down the threat but are waiting for the hated Westerners to do it for them. ISIS is not capable of striking the US. If our intelligence agencies are doing there jobs then we know who is going and can lock their asses up when they come back.
The beheading of the Lebanese troops is a tragedy. I fear that the same fate awaits the captured UN troops. Unfortunately tragedies happen everyday.
via AP
BEIRUT – The mother of a Lebanese soldier held captive by the militant Islamic State group says that photographs posted online purporting to show his beheading appear real.My take?
Zeinab Noun called her son, Abbas Medlej, a "martyr" after Islamic State supporters posted images Saturday appearing to show a captured Lebanese soldier before and after he was beheaded.
Medlej's maternal uncle, Abu Ali Noun, also said the photographs appeared to be of his nephew.
A spokesman for Lebanon's military said it was still investigating the incident.
Militants from the Islamic State and other groups in Syria are holding around 35 Lebanese soldiers and policemen captive. They were seized in August when militants from Syria overran the Lebanese border town of Arsal in the most serious spillover of the neighboring civil war.
This is gonna sound cold but this is a Middle Eastern problem. The nations of the region have the military capability to put down the threat but are waiting for the hated Westerners to do it for them. ISIS is not capable of striking the US. If our intelligence agencies are doing there jobs then we know who is going and can lock their asses up when they come back.
The beheading of the Lebanese troops is a tragedy. I fear that the same fate awaits the captured UN troops. Unfortunately tragedies happen everyday.
Yes, but in the case of Lebanon some defensive help will have to be provided so as not to have another friendly/non-hostile govt. (Lebanese Govt.) fall flat on its face. Just enough help to ensure that the Lebanese Govt.'s writ runs through its sovereign territories and not become another incubation space for ISIS or Syria for that matter.
ReplyDeleteIn case Lebanon capitulates to the ISIS menace imagine Israel surrounded from another side then. As if Syria wasnt enough, they will have another ultra-hostile neighbour that will make HAMAS look like amateurs.
Not to mention the daily beheadings of hundreds of christians and other non believers that ISIS will be able to do due to Lebanon's population Demographics.
ReplyDeleteSolomon said "...ISIS is not capable of striking the US...".
ReplyDeleteIMHO, the truth is that the do not want to - even if they could. Why? You don't bite the hand of person who invented you, grew you up, fed you & still (under the table) support you.
ISIS Proper may not be able to strike the US with its Toyotas and those 2 captured Abrams but the probability of a small Terror Cell funded by ISIS striking the US isnt that low. The moment they get stuck or their momentum stalled by better defences they will want to carry out a "terror cell" strike in either Europe or USA or on some symbolic western interest/asset.
DeleteIf we are to learn from those beheading videos ISIS is all about making a statement and boasting of their prowess to all would be supporters and trumpeting their barbarianism to all who oppose them. Imagine what kind of a statement they will make in case they do attack a western interest/asset.
Our guard must be up against such threats.
"ISIS is not capable of striking the US."
ReplyDeleteHorsepuckey.
A potential enemy is evaluated broadly based purely on only two things:
Capabilities
Intentions
The number of US casualties fighting for ISIS demonstrate they could take action in the US.
So much for lacking the capability. They clearly have that.
So far, they haven't.
Either because they have other fish to fry and heads to chop, or because the backlash could be catastrophic (someday, once we have a functioning White house again), or they just haven't had the wit to think about doing it.
It's basically a crapshoot, because no one here has any WAG what ISIS wants - other than a new caliphate there - or where the US stands on their list of targeting priorities.
So Intentions is still a giant question mark.
When they figure theirs out, our lives will change.
When we figure that out, things have the potential to get rather sporty over here in short order.
They couldn't take or hold anything outside of a few precincts in Detroitistan.
If they tried, it would be open season, and screw the bag limit, long before the military or NG even got on the case.
But the prospect of random pizza joints at malls, movie theatres, and public transportation conveyances detonating after visits by two-legged not-so-smart bombs does not fill me with much enthusiasm for the havoc they could wreak here with a rather insignificant effort by comparison.
Let's be glad they're focusing on fighting in Syria and retaking Iraq, at the moment, and focused on killing their enemies, rather than themselves, and not kid ourselves over what they could do.
Detroitistan......in what context is that word being used since i am not that familiar with detroit ?
DeleteDetroit is a large city in the US that was rich and prosperous 50 years ago. But which is now a bankrupt, mostly lawless wasteland.
Deletehttp://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/18/us-usa-detroit-bankruptcy-idUSBRE96H16O20130718
I'm glad you said it out loud Sol. I also think this is a middle eastern problem. I've seen the pics of Saudi Arabia's Air Force and the fun pics of their SF troops repelling out of helicopters. I've seen similar pics from Kuwait and Jordan. They most certainly can take of this themselves.
ReplyDeleteIt's bullshit they expect us to solve this for them.
"...It's bullshit they expect us to solve this for them..."
DeleteSpeaking of bullshit expectations, may I ask who invented and funded these "Toyota drivers"? Who encouraged them to behead, rape and threaten with Islamic Holly War and the willing to establish Shariah around the globe and turn into ashes the Western civilized World as we know it?
I fully understand that it looks like a middle eastern problem (let the Arabs exterminate each other) and US doesn not wish to send troops to do the dirty job, but at leaste send John McCain to clean the shit. After all, he had some chit-chat with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi himself and few other top class AQ members, not long time ago. Fair enough?
I'm will gladly trade John McCain.
DeleteRumsfeld is a better shot, he can go along for backup. Just don't let McCain fly the plane. :)
Delete"...I've seen the pics of Saudi Arabia's Air Force and the fun pics of their SF troops repelling out of helicopters. I've seen similar pics from Kuwait and Jordan. They most certainly can take of this themselves..."
ReplyDeleteSaudi Arabia, Kuwait etc may have some good military stuff, but they are not going to do the laundry. You see, as long as the Saudis got the money, they also make the rules. If US like to have some good deal on petrol bussiness at the area, guess who's going to clean up the mess..