Yes, this is all about energy--Syria, Iraq, IS, and the President's Speech.

[hueymahl]

41. I have great respect for you, but this post is mostly horseshit

It is simply the repackaging of neocon philosophy using bigger words and liberal code.

The problem with your analysis, is the same problem with Neocon analysis. It makes assumptions that do not coincide with reality.

In a response above, you say something I truly believe: Liberalism requires seeing the world as it is, so that we can craft reasonable policy to address the problems we see.

I submit that your post does not live up to this standard because it does not see the world as it is.

Big reality point 1. The world will not fall apart if ISIS or any other terrorist du jur interrupts oil supplies in Iraq or Syria. The world has plenty of oil, a glut in fact. The price per barrel has fallen 20% in an improving world economy. That is unheard of and is a direct indication of a worldwide glut, stemming mostly from fracking.

Big Reality point 2. ISIS is not a threat to the US. It is a regional flair up that will be contained regionally and burn itself out. The leaders of ISIS might even morph into political leaders in the countries they are currently terrorizing. For far too long we have picked one evil leader over another based solely on whether we think they will be nice to us. This "policy" has cost us trillions of dollars and 10s of thousands of American lives, not to mention the devastation those policies have wrought on those we were trying to "help"

Big Reality point 3. This is not a slippery slope situation. See above.

Big Reality point 4. The only real ally we have in that region is the kurds. They are strong, also supported by Turkey and would need limited support from us to defeat any ISIS threat.

Big Reality point 5. By continuing our failed policies like you advocate, we are perpetuating the cycle of resentment and hatred for the US in that region.

Big Reality point 6. Even arguendo oil prices jump, that is not a bad thing in the long term. Absent strong government leadership promoting alternative energy (one of my biggest disappointments in the current administration), the shift to alternative energy needs oil prices to be high.

So to repeat, I respect you and your many positive positions, but on this one, I'm afraid you have it dead wrong.