The only solution the Middle East is going to get if it really wants to consider peace, is going to have to be political and religious, not military. We can bomb the hell out of ISIS but eventually that will become a recruiting issue, not a defeat. That s not to say that we should stop, but we must solve the political and religious problems as well as the military, or there will be no military solution. Of course the military solution would be hastened if we put boots on the ground but the endgame wouldn’t.
Lest any of the neocons forget, Bush created this mess for oil. That oil is now being sold through Turkey, not by us, but by ISIS, which is something we have to get the Turks to stop. They can shut off a big source of ISIS funding just by stopping the oil convoys at the border the same as they are supposedly stopping Europeans from trying to get to ISIS to join up. Maybe now that their hostages are released, they will get off their collective butts and jump in. It’s time for Turkey to decide who they want to join in the sand box. In fact it’s way past time.
When the Europeans gave up their empires we slipped conveniently into the void. We did it because we thought we could get raw materials, mostly oil. We gained some influence and some oil at a very high cost, and that cost has been way out of proportion to the benefits. Now we have to let the rest of the world, primarily Europe and the Middle East do the hard lifting. We don’t need the Middle East any more. We produce almost as much oil as they do and more gas. Hopefully we will produce all the renewable energy we need in the coming years and that will eliminate the need for fossil fuels at all. The proliferation of the Middle East’s main source of income will only lead to more poisonous air and global warming so it would be better for the planet to just walk away an let them return to the nomadic desert kingdoms they have been, since the beginning of time.
As expected of the Iraqi army when we finally got Maliki out of the way, it has rallied to reoccupy Amnarci and push ISIS out. The whole thing boils down to a coalition with us as the air force, the Kurds, the Iraqi army and maybe a mercenary force made up of troops from the other friendly Arab nations and Turkey, This same group could sweep through Iraq and then into Syria making the need to hook up with any of the current Syrian forces unnecessary. This kind of force could eliminate Assad and ISIS at the same time because it would have the overwhelming power that is now missing on the ground to go with the overpowering air power that we provide. But we must not forget, the immediate problem is ISIS, not Assad.
We haven’t had a strategy covering the Middle East for over seventy years. We make decisions on tactics but we have had no overall strategy. This did not happen just because Obama took office. No president since Truman has accomplished this.
Tom Cole, ® Oklahoma, not this blog’s favorite politician, outlined a calm reasoned, logical explanation of the whole Middle East mess, speaking to how the President was, in this case, doing the right thing by moving slowly and trying, to get it right, for a change, on a comprehensive policy for the region.
NATO is meeting this week in England and that should give us a reading on the European community and how much backing we can get from them. If Europe and Turkey don’t step up the only solution is to turn the whole thing over to NARO. We have a smaller and smaller dog in this fight and if the Middle Eastern nations don’t want to step up, it seems foolish to get our kids killed in a fight in which they don’t want to do their share.
John McCain was on the air again spreading his warlike vitriol. He is upset that we did not arm somebody, anybody, in Syria, and that now we won’t go to war. McCain’s answer to everything is to shoot something. He just doesn’t understand that the answer in the Middle East is not another war; it’s to put together a coalition that will stop this one and subvert the ISIS threat.
Congressman Adam Smith, (D) Washington, head of the House Armed Services Committee gave one of the most comprehensive outlines of what has happened, is happening and needs to happen in this conflict. He starts by pointing out that we need reliable partners. He uses Iraq as an example where in choosing Maliki as a partner we cut our own throats and led the country to chaos. What we really need in Iraq and in Syria, is to partner with moderate Sunnis.
In Syria it is far more complicated because for a while Saudi Arabia and Turkey were funding ISIS. Now they see what a horror they had helped to create and they have stopped; but no one in Syria is anywhere near strong enough to fight either Assad or ISIS so we have to find someone outside Syria, willing to put boots on the ground.
McCain states that we can’t stop bombing. Then Peter King jumps in and of course it’s all about how the President didn’t provide arms for the Syrian opposition. Of course King’s not bright enough to understand that the Syrian opposition became ISIS. Could it be that he really doesn’t get that? Could he possibly be as ignorant as he sounds? Both McCain and King are all about doing something right away, not to wait but to act. That would be fine if we knew how we should act but we don’t – not yet.
Diane Feinstein was on the tube talking about the fact that Obama is too cautious. She states that the UAE, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, etc, are all under threat from ISIS. Sure they are, so why the hell aren’t they jumping in and putting up? Why, except for Jordan, are they sitting back, hoping that we’ll save their asses once again?
Most of our congressmen are talking about how the President isn’t moving fast enough and the ones who aren’t have been talking about suing the President for acting without their permission. Well, they can’t have it both ways. If they don’t want the President to act on his own, they should get the hell back in session and do something about it. Why is congress on vacation when you should be debating our strategy in this situation.