Burn-E Posted January 19, 2016 Report Share Posted January 19, 2016 Define "brute force." More air strikes? Boots on the ground? Whose forces? And who leads? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin. Posted January 19, 2016 Report Share Posted January 19, 2016 4 hours ago, Burn-E said: Define "brute force." More air strikes? Boots on the ground? Whose forces? And who leads? Tactical air strikes would be optimal, less lives lost (on our side) and we can use bases in EU and in the middle east to launch from. Have a B-1 do a few carpet combing runs and that'll send the message loud and clear I can see the use of military force on the ground but I really think that would be a fucking stupid decision (Vietnam, Iraq.....). If we do decide to declare war on the Islamic State it needs to be run by our military and carried out by our military. Looking at Iraq, we were incredibly efficient for the first stages and then everything fell apart. This happened due to decreased level of control by military commanders which made for some really really really stupid decisions to be made. War is a shitty thing, but if we are going to war with the Islamic State it has to be absolute commitment with a goal of absolute victory. IMO those leading should be the countries directly involved with the crisis, unless they feel that other nations would be more effective. Now you've got me thinking about how Russia and the US are running a proxy war in Syria, what an absolute shit show Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burn-E Posted January 19, 2016 Report Share Posted January 19, 2016 23 minutes ago, Kevin. said: Now you've got me thinking about how Russia and the US are running a proxy war in Syria, what an absolute shit show Ding, ding, ding! Welcome to the present Kevin. Only it's not a Cold War endeavor. It's a question of who the various parties want to wind up running things in an important Middle Eastern country. It's the same thing that's going on in Ukraine. And I know you're former Air Force but a word of advice, when we recognize that, to quote Clausewitz, "war is not merely an act of policy but a true political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse carried on with other means," then the truth is that tactical air strikes don't do shit when it comes to changing the realities on the ground unless you have boots on the ground. Or are willing to just completely pulverize an entire landscape with hundreds of thousands of civilian lives lost in collateral damage. You have to ask, what is the desired outcome? Who is going to step in and take over after Assad? It would probably blow your mind to consider that Assad is actually helping ISIS gain greater ground in parts of Syria and in Iraq. He's doing this because he believes that by wiping out all alternative potential on the ground claims to power he then becomes the less extreme of the two options. He wants to force the US and Russia to agree that eliminating ISIS and leaving him in power is the best option. The problem is, he's seriously weakening his power structure and military in the process. So unless we plan on funding Syria like we do Israel that outcome would only create a bigger refugee crisis and set the stage for the next Syrian civil war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caanglin Posted January 19, 2016 Report Share Posted January 19, 2016 Here's a good air strike/drone joke Kev. Whats the difference between an ISIS training camp and a children's hospital? I don't know I just fly the drone. This fuckery? It's nothing to worry about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theForgottenone Posted January 20, 2016 Report Share Posted January 20, 2016 Carpet bombing. Now that is a statement to disregard any civilians in the ground. Only good if you plan to wipe out the whole country since all you doing is fuel the hatred for the enemy toward United States. Not saying U. S have a good image in Middle East but that definitely doesn't help the cause regardless who you dealing with. Like alan stated above, war is a political instrument not a policy. U.S could have won the Vietnam war if they didn't not started pulling out of V.N. If you watch the history channel mini series on the Vietnam war in HD, they outline the whole history on what/how/why u.s was involved in the war and how close they could wipe out the VC during their last successful mission on the Ho Chi Minh trail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappo Posted January 20, 2016 Report Share Posted January 20, 2016 13 hours ago, Burn-E said: I don't disagree that Carson probably can't pull together a cogent response to that threat but if you guys are so smart, what is an appropriate answer to that question? I don't need to answer the question because I am not running for president. This is a job interview and if I can't get a straight answer on how a candidate is going to perform over the next 4 years, I don't want that person in the job. As for Carson, I think he has been huffing nitrous oxide for the past 20 years and has fried his brain. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S8ET6 Posted January 20, 2016 Report Share Posted January 20, 2016 I'm gonna have to take a second look at Trump now that Palin has endorsed him... * I couldn't even TYPE that with a straight face 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burn-E Posted January 20, 2016 Report Share Posted January 20, 2016 20 minutes ago, S8ET6 said: I'm gonna have to take a second look at Trump now that Palin has endorsed him... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappo Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 11 hours ago, S8ET6 said: I'm gonna have to take a second look at Trump now that Palin has endorsed him... They were made for each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappo Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 After seeing part of Palin's speech, I think she has gotten even dumber than just a few years ago. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin. Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 with Ted Cruz among others saying that they are "A Christian first and an American second", how is this not concerning to anyone? JFK said it well.... http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkhoustonministers.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burn-E Posted January 24, 2016 Report Share Posted January 24, 2016 Now it's getting interesting. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/michael-bloomberg-considers-a-presidential-run/2016/01/23/1a0f4176-c1ee-11e5-bcda-62a36b394160_story.html I would vote for Bloomberg over all of these other knuckleheads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin. Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 didn't he want to ban soda? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caanglin Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 All you need to know about Ted Cruz. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin. Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 so Obama is nudging Dems to vote for Hillary, Biden hinted at Sanders. Wonder who Trump will be voting for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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