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In reply to the discussion: Are you really ready for another war in Iraq? [View all]bigtree
(93,318 posts)51. interesting
. . .the administration has already conflated them with al-Qaeda;
. . .from last night's WH briefing:
The Yazidi population has been targeted by ISIL. This is not something new. ISIL originally was the group led by Zarqawi and al Qaeda in Iraq, an organization we know very well. Its important to keep in mind that ISIL is not a new phenomenon. It is al Qaeda in Iraq, and a part of the ideology which was spawned by Zarqawi all the way back in 2003. And to date, the largest terrorist attack ever in Iraq took place up in the Sinjar region in August of 2007, killing about 700 Yazidi civilians in a series of devastating car bombs then conducted by al Qaeda in Iraq.
It is their mission -- ISIL, and then al Qaeda in Iraq, same organization -- it is their mission to ethnically cleanse areas of anyone that it disagrees with, and that could mean Christians, it could mean Yazidis or anyone else. It is important also to keep in mind that it is targeting Sunnis in Sunni areas -- anyone that it disagrees with. And it is so ruthless -- quite literally putting peoples heads on spikes as a sign of anyone -- the fate of anyone that would resist them . . .
. . . isn't the fight against al-Qaeda the original justification for keeping troops bogged down there? There is a legitimate question of whether the president will allow this latest 'humanitarian' rationale, he's properly defined as protecting the Kurdish citizens, to devolve into that original fight; a wider battle against these insurgent forces justified under the same 'humanitarian terms.
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ISIS wants to fashion, build and control a state, an Islamic caliphate. They probably need the dam.
pinto
Aug 2014
#2
They don't have to blow it up--just failure to maintain it will cause it to fail.
TwilightGardener
Aug 2014
#5
You already are sucked in. It's a fools errand, 1400 years of war will not end with a couple bombs.
grahamhgreen
Aug 2014
#124
We'll do what we have to do. I don't think anyone's hyping threats or pushing
TwilightGardener
Aug 2014
#4
They don't have to be at this point nor do the best intentions much help us
TheKentuckian
Aug 2014
#31
I'm not saying we would or even necessarily could. I'm saying this is about the only thing that can
TheKentuckian
Aug 2014
#63
To be honest, I don't trust Obama's rationales any more than Bush's when it comes to war
arcane1
Aug 2014
#7
Just one of your Hater fan club! Seems to be a group of them on DU...what did you do?
Rex
Aug 2014
#83
Funny how you are so positive that your vision is the only one and those that
rhett o rick
Aug 2014
#115
No, but I think there's a certain amount of "you broke it - you bought it" in play here.
Coventina
Aug 2014
#17
Of course we are to blame but that has nothing to do with ability or even intention to correct it
TheKentuckian
Aug 2014
#56
I am not sure if america's current desire for war, should trump the AMerican behavior that lead
La Lioness Priyanka
Aug 2014
#21
Oh fer chrissakes.....I suppose this is better than screaming for the duct tape and plastic
msanthrope
Aug 2014
#29
Please....and here's the interesting thing about recs...it really does tell you
msanthrope
Aug 2014
#144
Yes Pitt, I have impeccable sources that tell me the ground invasion begins in 24 business hours.
tritsofme
Aug 2014
#70
it's up to each of us to boycott war profiteers, call talk shows, network, pray, organize
dem1926
Aug 2014
#74
It never really stopped, just took a short break while U.S. forces were at an all-time low.
Rex
Aug 2014
#84
what is not being spoken here is that US military action in Iraq is counterproductive
bigtree
Aug 2014
#111
Do you think the POTUS' strategy is to pull together all the threatened nations to do their own...
Hekate
Aug 2014
#109
That's the danger of "the boy who cried wolf" eventually there was a wolf and nobody believed him.
Uncle Joe
Aug 2014
#110
No. Enough is enough. Our involvement never ends well for them or for our troops who die
Autumn
Aug 2014
#117
War is almost never the answer, but I am yet to be convinced that it is not the answer here.
Vattel
Aug 2014
#119
How many innocent Iraqis are you willing to kill to do it and how many times is this or a similar
TheKentuckian
Aug 2014
#136
Short answer, no because I honestly don't think Obama will put us back in Iraq
davidpdx
Aug 2014
#122
I have many Iraqi friends, livnig in an area with 40,000 Iraqi Chaldeans as well as Kurds.
Liberty Belle
Aug 2014
#123
We have no plan. We are adrift with a huge military and no idea what we should do.
Warren Stupidity
Aug 2014
#137
A) No. (B) More war is falling into the trap of eternal war laid by the PNAC/1%. nt
Zorra
Aug 2014
#145