War on ISIL

[Guest]

This is a very tough call on how to accomplish our goals relative to fighting this group.

Hard to fight a group of maybe 50 to 60 thousand total, but all commando type warriors with no help from many of the countries that they are physically interred. Syria has been killing each other for a few years and these ISIL guys are just another killing machine.

Bombing seems a bit frustrating without PRECISE ground intel.

Seems we need to make a choice on this. It has grown into a group with resources that needs to be addressed.

Is it our fight ? In my opinion, it sure is. The world is so small right now, and if ignored it may cost us more money and lives when and if we need to confront it.

What does everyone think......very hard call to make

[Guest]

Our government needs to realize, and realize it quickly, that these are people you cannot reason with. We had better sit up and pay attention or for the first time since the Civil War, we will see battle...not just suicide bombings, etc., but actual atrocities and combat right here on our own soil. What is happening there is just a sampling of what is to come if they get here.

[Guest]

I'm a liberal Democrat, I know a rarity in the villages. That said there comes a time when we just have to say, Enough! We need to go after these barbarians with everything we have, and then clean up that little mess in Africa where they are butchering children.

[Guest]

I'm a liberal Democrat, I know a rarity in the villages. That said there comes a time when we just have to say, Enough! We need to go after these barbarians with everything we have, and then clean up that little mess in Africa where they are butchering children.

I do not believe you are a rarity at all. I have lived here for 15 years and while there is no doubt more Republicans than Democrats (I do not know the registration numbers) it is more mixed than many think. DO NOT JUDGE anything by what you read on here. It does not reflect reality.

On the fight with ISIL, this will play into those who think this is all about bashing the President.

First, I do not envy the spot he is in now. It is a very tenuos and difficult situation figuring out how to fight this.

BUT, If he had been less political and allowed the occupation of Iraq to continue, and he could have no matter what he says, no ISIL. Had he gotten involved even just a little...no ISIL. They filled the vacuum created by our inaction.

Having said that, I pray that someone comes up with a plan. I think the situation needs a big BOOM from us to show the world we mean it. I think the President thinks the problems in the mid east will stay there if we just leave it alone. I do not know, but what a gamble not use our best weapon..our military force.

[Guest]

it did not take the king of Jordan many hours to make good on his threat and response. Less than 24 hours.

There is no wat that could happen here in the USA under the current mentality of those in control. The well worn pattern of let's wait and see, let's study it further, let's not rush to accuse or hurt some elements feelings, let's wait and see what others do/think.

The let's go on national television and talk....and talk...and talk some more.

I have said it before and will state it again here.....i trul beleive the "WH" actually feels they have addressed the issue by talking about it. No actions No accountability.

We the people have become accustomed to the routine, hence some of our expectations are truly depressed.

The enemy have also become accustomed to the pattern and style. Hence they are emboldened to do as they may.

A good example? The long and painful decision to start to bomb ISIS' march across Iraq. The speech announcing we are going to do so full of rhetoric how we will slow ISIS down and ultimately destry them.
Has there been an update how we are doing? We know by the news every day how ISIS is doing. They are alive and well and CONTINUING with no fear of the USA.

And that is not going to change until there is a change in the attitude of the "WH" about who our enemies are and what to do about it.

For starters give Jordan what they need to win their response.....do not study it for weeks to decide.....the enemy knows that is what we do.
Not the king of Jordan.

[Guest]

I believe the President is asking congress for the authority to use the military on this issue....

[Guest]

what we do not have in this administration, congress included is a sense of urgency.

The king of Jordan responded in less than 24 hours. We have been at the discussion level for days and based on past performance there will be no decision to do anything any time soon. That is the modus operendi.....those who would harm us or our allies/friends know this all too well.

So on this one he needs to ask the congress.....I won't hit the rolling on the floor lauging icon.....but I am laughing-again!

[Guest]

Sounds as some posters want American troops on the ground fighting ISIS or flying bombing runs.

ISIS would absolutely love to capture a few American soldiers. They would be executed in a horrible way and the video played worlwiide.

After a few or several of those horrible executions, do you think the average American would have the mindset to petition the government to withdraw or would a tougher resolve? In my viewpoint, it would weaken the will of most people and we the people would want to leave ISIS to the mid-east.

[Guest]

Sounds as some posters want American troops on the ground fighting ISIS or flying bombing runs.

ISIS would absolutely love to capture a few American soldiers. They would be executed in a horrible way and the video played worlwiide.

After a few or several of those horrible executions, do you think the average American would have the mindset to petition the government to withdraw or would a tougher resolve? In my viewpoint, it would weaken the will of most people and we the people would want to leave ISIS to the mid-east.

Good luck with that thought process. Unfortunately, i don't think it will be able to be contained there - eventually it will spill over to the US. Then what will we do?

[Guest]

Who are we the people? It certainly is Not Tea Party extremists.

[Guest]

Sounds as some posters want American troops on the ground fighting ISIS or flying bombing runs.

ISIS would absolutely love to capture a few American soldiers. They would be executed in a horrible way and the video played worlwiide.

After a few or several of those horrible executions, do you think the average American would have the mindset to petition the government to withdraw or would a tougher resolve? In my viewpoint, it would weaken the will of most people and we the people would want to leave ISIS to the mid-east.

Please take your head out of the sand. We are already at war and should be leading this fight. Doesn't necessarily means boots on the ground. We have more military knowledge then any of these countries and would be a tremendous support to their efforts.

[Guest]

Sounds as some posters want American troops on the ground fighting ISIS or flying bombing runs.

ISIS would absolutely love to capture a few American soldiers. They would be executed in a horrible way and the video played worlwiide.

After a few or several of those horrible executions, do you think the average American would have the mindset to petition the government to withdraw or would a tougher resolve? In my viewpoint, it would weaken the will of most people and we the people would want to leave ISIS to the mid-east.

I do not think that is the case...wanting all you say the posters want.

I think what we want is a plan...all we have had are lectures based on generalizations.

I totally understand that providing details is not smart and that is not what I am talking about. Some days we fly and bomb....some days we do this and that. It is tough to make that call , I understand.

I would be scared to death of groundtroops for sure.

Keep in mind, we lost an american woman today, who was in Syria working with the poor children, many of which were slaughtered, raped and maimed while we stood silent, EVEN AFTER DRAWING A RED LINE.

How do you think these people came into such power ?

I will be honest....I do not have the answer......I have fears of ground troops and too much involvement.

HOWEVER, our President was warned about the consequences of leaving Iraq as he did when he had options....our President was warned about the consequences of ignoring Syria when he had options. So now we have what we have.

[Guest]

HOWEVER, our President was warned about the consequences of leaving Iraq as he did when he had options....our President was warned about the consequences of ignoring Syria when he had options. So now we have what we have.

This mess would not be happening if our previous president had not invaded Iraq under the LIES of weapons of mass destruction. What a buffoon he was.

[Guest]

This mess would not be happening if our previous president had not invaded Iraq under the LIES of weapons of mass destruction. What a buffoon he was.

Gee...have your read the thread on here about respect ????????

Whether you are right or wrong is not the question of the minute. Would welcome a fun fame of taking each problem issue and go back in time to try and determine what had to change to eliminate the current problem.

There are words and writings for people who think in this manner !!!

Reliving the Iraq war is similiar to reliving why it took us so long to enter the second world war and how many lives might have been saved.

An exercise in total futility

[Guest]

Gee...have your read the thread on here about respect ????????

Whether you are right or wrong is not the question of the minute. Would welcome a fun fame of taking each problem issue and go back in time to try and determine what had to change to eliminate the current problem.

There are words and writings for people who think in this manner !!!

Reliving the Iraq war is similiar to reliving why it took us so long to enter the second world war and how many lives might have been saved.

An exercise in total futility

The Iraq Invasion cost over 4,000 dead Americans, thousands maimed, and thousands more psychological wounded - all for NOTHING.

Can anyone disprove that?

[Guest]

The Iraq Invasion cost over 4,000 dead Americans, thousands maimed, and thousands more psychological wounded - all for NOTHING.

Can anyone disprove that?

Just wondering can you look in your crystal ball and tell us what will happen if we leave Iran alone with their nuclear bombs. You can't prove what hasn't happened. Who knows what Saddam might have been capable of if given time. I don't know if the war was the right thing or the wrong thing, but I do know at the time both parties supported the action and I always wondered why Saddam kept bragging about his "weapons of mass destruction" when he knew we were coming for him. Maybe if he had said I don't have any such thing come and look things would have been different.
Maybe if a sinkhole had swallowed Iraq things would be different. But they went down the way they were supposed to for whatever reason and now we have to deal with this. And please don't forget we were attacked several times in our country by these terrorists before we took any action. They were already out to get us - we just exposed them sooner rather than later.

[Guest]

The Iraq Invasion cost over 4,000 dead Americans, thousands maimed, and thousands more psychological wounded - all for NOTHING.

Can anyone disprove that?

Well, cant prove the FOR NOTHING statement, thus neither can you !

The question is not about that struggle is it?

[Guest]

Well, cant prove the FOR NOTHING statement, thus neither can you !

The question is not about that struggle is it?

Over 4,000 dead Americans, thousands maimed for life, thousands more scarred by psychological trauma is a "struggle"?

What did that invasion do to benefit the USA? Nothing!

Contrary to some people, the 9/11 terrorists were not sent by Saddam. There were NO weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq. It was a lie.

Just imagine ISIS capturing American soldiers and pilots. They would be executed without a doubt. For what?

[Guest]

Over 4,000 dead Americans, thousands maimed for life, thousands more scarred by psychological trauma is a "struggle"?

What did that invasion do to benefit the USA? Nothing!

Contrary to some people, the 9/11 terrorists were not sent by Saddam. There were NO weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq. It was a lie.

Just imagine ISIS capturing American soldiers and pilots. They would be executed without a doubt. For what?

So..is it then your thought that we apply this same logic to any threats from here on, OR does it only apply now ?

[Guest]

Over 4,000 dead Americans, thousands maimed for life, thousands more scarred by psychological trauma is a "struggle"?

What did that invasion do to benefit the USA? Nothing!

Contrary to some people, the 9/11 terrorists were not sent by Saddam. There were NO weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq. It was a lie.

Just imagine ISIS capturing American soldiers and pilots. They would be executed without a doubt. For what?

Which wars had it that neither side captured the others or did not execute the other?

The only reason the wars in the Middle East continue is they are nothing more than political chess.
If our military were tasked with winning and then left to do their job the wars would have been over long ago and many lives saved.
Our military has been emasculated over the past 6 years. As a result those who would do harm to the USA, it's people and or assets are emboldened to proceed without fear. ISIS being the most current classic case.

[Guest]

The above poster gave ABSOLUTELY no answer as to WHY the USA invaded Iraq. Or what the reason was that so many thousands of A mericans were killed or maimed.

The poster makes it sound like he/she is perfectly okay with American soldiers being captured by ISIS, put in cages, and executed on video.

Not me!

[Guest]

The above poster gave ABSOLUTELY no answer as to WHY the USA invaded Iraq. Or what the reason was that so many thousands of A mericans were killed or maimed.

The poster makes it sound like he/she is perfectly okay with American soldiers being captured by ISIS, put in cages, and executed on video.

Not me!

I certainly never read into that post what you saw..not even close.

Since this thread is about ISIL and NOT the Iraq war, maybe you should start another thread and redeal and rehash the Iraq war.

What it will be, just to save you time, is folks who are supporters of President Obama will join you in bashing George Bush since they do not want to talk about TODAYS foreign policy, and they can make some valid HISTORICAL POINTS.

Part of that discussion should be our leaving so rapidly against all advice which all the experts from the area say was the birth of ISIL. I suppose you could make the case saying that if we had not been in Iraq , then Obama would not have left early.....ok...fair but what would be the point of that.

I sure hope our country is now not going to make all decisions using the prism you are using.

You can bring up all the misleading statements made prior to the Iraq invasion which will be totally steeped in hate for Bush. Others can do the same with ISIL.

Point is...history is history and while there are certainly academic reasons to reopen Iraq, the current world situation is quite a plateful on its own.

Again, the opposite can be said HISTORICALLY about the Second World War, where we dragged our feet so long in getting involved and there certainly is not just proof but volumes of books written on how many lives may have been saved had we entered and got involved earlier.

Point is...learn from history for sure but treating it as a focal point for current events is a waste of good energy.

ON the other hand, I was please to see we stepped up our bombing raids in the Mosul area. Hopefully, this group will at some point recognize the futility and simply disappear one day. That is a hope...reality is the terrorism aspect is going to continue.

Did anyone hear about the group arrested in St Louis....

"Six natives from Bosnia, three from the St. Louis area, have been charged with aiding terrorists. The six , who immigrated to the U..S from Bosnia, are under federal indictment and accused of sending accessories for weapon and money to Syria and Iraq. The three from the St. Louis area include a husband and wife, but no information was provided on where they lived or their work history if any. Two of the suspects appeared before a federal judge in St. Louis today. Of the six indicted, two of them, one from St. Louis, are also charged with conspiracy to kill and maim people in another country. If convicted, the crimes of conspiring to provide material support carry penalties ranging up to 15 years in prison for each count and/or fines up to $250,000. The crime of conspiring to kill and maim persons in a foreign country carries a penalty of up to life in prison

Six Indicted on Charges of Aiding Terrorists: Three from St. Louis Area « CBS St. Louis (http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2015/02/06/six-indicted-on-charges-of-aiding-terrorists-three-from-st-louis-area/)

This group, from this article, did not appear to pose a threat INSIDE THE US, but the mind set...the players in this terrorism game appear to be on our shores.

[Guest]

Our government needs to realize, and realize it quickly, that these are people you cannot reason with. We had better sit up and pay attention or for the first time since the Civil War, we will see battle...not just suicide bombings, etc., but actual atrocities and combat right here on our own soil. What is happening there is just a sampling of what is to come if they get here.






Don't know where you've been, but some of us witnessed actual atrocities right here on our own soil on 9/11.

Guessed you missed it - or maybe 9/11 doesn't count as an atrocity in your book.

[Guest]

As does the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing and the Atlanta Centennial Park bombing and the Colorado theater shooting and the school shootings, etc. All are atrocities. It does not have to be committed by an Islamic terrorist to be an atrocity.

[Guest]

As does the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing and the Atlanta Centennial Park bombing and the Colorado theater shooting and the school shootings, etc. All are atrocities. It does not have to be committed by an Islamic terrorist to be an atrocity.

The difference between the whack jobs you refer to and ISIS is the whack jobs weren't trying to eliminate the western world.

[Guest]

As early as tomorrow, President Obama will send to congress his request for authorization to use military force to defeat ISSL. Presumably, this request will contain the objective of the mission, the duration of the mission, and all the other particulars of this war, for congress to debate.

Finally, members of congress get to step up to the plate, ask their questions, voice their opinions and finally, vote. As this discussion gets going, those that have strong feelings, one way or the other, should contact their elected representative and let them know how you feel.

[Guest]

So if I read the majority of the postings correctly, we need to get involved and we are not attacking ISIL. We should be more strongly reacting, like Jordan did. We should oppose fundamentalist Islam as a direct threat to our security. That any Islamic state that uses rigid Sharia law is our enemy.

So do we support the Shia butchers or the Sunni butchers. You have to take a side because if we fight one we are supporting the other. How are you with the Wahhabi version of Islam?

For those who say the administration is doing nothing and Jordan is so decisive, please find and link for me the number of missions flown against ISIS by various nations. Please find me some experts who could tell you which side we should have supporting in the civil war in Syria, the Sunni side, the Shia side, the Syrian government. There is no moderate side.

For those bashing the President for not doing something about Syria, your memory is very defective on what he wanted.

Database: Tallying congressional support for Syria strike (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/09/08/tallying-congressional-support-syria-strike/2782991/)

He asked for Congressional authorization and it was unable to be passed. there was overwhelming GOP opposition to authorization

Yes: House (26) (18 Democrats, 8 Republicans)
No: House (120) (29 Democrats, 91 Republicans
Leaning No: House (118) (38 Democrats, 80 Republicans)
Undecided: House (169) (114 Democrats, 55 Republicans)

Tough Hill vote on Syria fades - Burgess Everett - POLITICO.com (http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/congress-syria-vote-96806.html)

There are no moderates in the middle eastern wars. Each faction wants their faith to control their territory and the next. And they are willing to kill and be killed for their faith. We don't need to take a side we need to stay out of it if they stay out of our business (and I don't mean our oil business).

We should continue to oppose the export of extremism to our nation. We should teach tolerance, allow the free expression of opinion, and crush violence when it is our problem. You are not going to create a military solution that will last. You can chase some soldiers into hiding but they will return as soon as we depart whether that means 1 year 5 years or 50 years. These battles are not ours to solve. The GOP is right to oppose intervention now.

[Guest]

This mess would not be happening if our previous president had not invaded Iraq under the LIES of weapons of mass destruction. What a buffoon he was.

Dear Guest: First you statement is not a political point or counter point (i.e. an argument). It is an accusation, a charge and a false one at that. Secondly it does not relieve the responsibility of the present Administration of their act of omissions and commission pertaining to its foreign policy and defense positions. Third, the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, a bipartisan body was formed and charged in 2004 to evaluate the intelligence community's determination that Saddam Hussein possessed WMD. In 2002 the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) stated in a formal presentation to George Bush and Congress its view that they were 90% certain Saddam had WMD. A 90% certainty in the intelligence community is about as certain as it gets.
Fourth, the liberal media pushed the"Bush lied, lie, evolving it to an anti-war slogani and a journalistic fact .

SO PLEASE NO MORE LIES ABOUT "BUSH LIED" because it is all political hogwash