Senate The Middle East Discussion Thread

Yeah, who would have thought it would be so easy to read one's name in a public forum where both people frequent?

I don't think we should be getting militarily involved in Iraq at all right now. Humanitarian mission ok. Umm, what else?

 

Erdogan is the one who propped up ISIS in the first place, in his attempt to oust Assad. I have a hard time seeing him helping out the Kurds anyway. His whole policy tries to prevent the Kurds getting too powerful in northern Iraq, because if they split and form their own country, Kurds in Turkey might want to join, and that is the last thing he wants.

 

I'm going to have to demand you post some sources (legitimate sources, not conspiracy blog sites or youtube videos) for this claim.

 

LOL... Demand.

Obama is not good at foreign policy. He is utterly clueless. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ier-claim-theyre-jayvee-level-terrorists.html

And he is the worst keeper of state secrets I can ever remember.

 

Pretty sure any support Turkey had for ISIS went away once ISIS took over their consulate in Mosul. I believe the people working there are still hostages.

It is odd to me that Turkey hasn't taken a more active role. It looks like with the dysfunction in Baghdad its going to have to be them or the Kurds doing the heavy lifting, and I can't imagine they want the Kurds getting that support (see the rumors that the US and others are starting to funnel weapons to the Kurds). I suppose Erdogan is more focused on reshaping the presidency.

 

There was some murmuring of Iran cooperating with the US on it, but Iran got cold feet. I think they're afraid to get involved publicly, what with their already tarnished image in the Arab/Muslim world for continuing to back Assad. The surrounding Arab states I don't know much about, but my feeling is they would be hesitant to openly fight them too. Plus, they like the tremors it causes in the Iraqi government. Even Iran has called for Maleki's resignation now. Turkey would have been the only option, I think.

 

The Daily Mail's analysis of an analogy? That's your big coup de grace here against Obama?

Uh, what?

 

Yeah, there was some back and forth about it. Kerry, even publicly saying he wouldn't rule it out, but that it would depend on the specifics of that cooperation. Rouhani gave some statements where he was open to it at first, but then retracted.

 

Every news agency has the story. I picked the one I thought you would trust. Are you saying it's an accurate analogy?

 

J-Rod, just FYI, the British view the Daily Mail in similar ways to how we view the National Enquirer.

 

I'm not seeing any major news source cover this.

https://www.google.com/webhp?source...spv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=obama lakers analogy&safe=on

 

Are you saying it didn't happen?

 

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/v...s-jv-team-quote-obama.cnn.html?iref=allsearch

 

No, I'm saying it's not some major thing even worth a moment of controversy. And here you're posting it as if it's relevant to the discussion.

EDIT: And even if we give it discussion, Obama wasn't (and still isn't) wrong with the analogy. Let's look at ISIS' campaigns.

1) Syria: The Syrian Rebels and Assad Regime are busy fighting each other, ISIS makes a play and siezes ground

2) Iraq: After a decade of maligning Sunnis, they, along with Baathist remnants, help ISIS seize Northern Iraq, where the Iraqi Army just let them rather than fighting back.

Up until now, ISIS has been benefiting from circumstances beyond their control.

 

Good. I thought it made Obama look stupid. I feel better now.

 

As a Brit I can safely say the Daily Mail should never ever be cited as a source of evidence unless you want to look like a fool.

They very recently contradicted their own headline in the headline.

 

There's nothing you won't twist to make Obama look stupid. Read my edit and see why you're wrong.

 

It is relevant. We should have been on top of ISIS before now.

 

As usual, J-Rod's here with 20/20 hindsight.

1) Why did we need to be on top of ISIS? Why do we even need to be in Iraq at all anymore?
2) I'm willing to bet you didn't even know about ISIS before June.

 

Also, the quote is from January. At that point, the IS was pretty insignificant.

 

OBAMA COULDN'T PREDICT THE FUTURE! WHAT A TERRIBLE PRESIDENT HE IS!

 

Been meaning to post this for some time.

A fascinating blog post about the ancient Yazidi

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/seanthomas/100282674/death-of-a-religion-isis-and-the-yezidi/

 

Apparently the Russians, Iranians, and Turks are helping us bomb the IS:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/business...mericans_are_flying_fighter_jets_in_iraq.html

They're like that alien invasion from Independence Day!