ISIS Is Resurging: Pentagon

[Kathianne]

I was going to add to this thread: http://www.debatepolicy.com/showthre...highlight=ISIS

but it seems best not to do multi-topics, even if all foreign policy that has to do with promised and delivered drawdowns. I hope Pompeo is correct, but the news regarding the Kurds means: Syria, Turkey, and Iraq at minimum.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/06/polit...ria/index.html

Washington (CNN)ISIS is "re-surging" in Syria less than five months after President Donald Trump declared the terror group's caliphate there had been 100% defeated, according to a new Pentagon inspector general's report on the fight against ISIS.


"Despite losing its territorial 'caliphate,' the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) solidified its insurgent capabilities in Iraq and was re-surging in Syria," the report, which was published on Tuesday, warned.


President Donald Trump has repeatedly touted his administration's role in driving the terror group from areas under its territorial control, telling a Cabinet meeting last month, "We did a great job with the caliphate. We have 100% of the caliphate, and we're rapidly pulling out of Syria." But the new report said the partial withdrawal of some US troops from Syria has already impacted the fight against the remnants of ISIS, making it harder to advise local allies on the ground and depriving the US of the ability to monitor areas that are described as potential recruiting zones that would allow the group to replenish its ranks.


Asked about the report's findings on Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the "administration is incredibly mindful of the success we've had versus ISIS," while acknowledging that he had not read the report.


"I'm sure it's the case that there's pockets where they've become a little stronger. I can assure you there are places where it's become weaker as well," Pompeo said.

...

Pentagon officials have expressed concerns in recent days that a potential Turkish military incursion targeting America's Kurdish allies in northeast Syria could undermine the fight against ISIS.


Such an operation has been repeatedly proposed by senior officials in Turkey and the US has consistently called such a move "unacceptable," expressing concerns that American personnel could be caught in the crossfire and that ISIS detainees could escape in the chaos.


ISIS also still presents a challenge in Iraq, where last month the US-led military coalition carried out 33 air or artillery strikes targeting ISIS fighters, buildings, tunnels, weapons caches and vehicles.

[Kathianne]

Weren't these the main issues between the President and General Mattis? Kurds, Syris, ISIS, Iraq?

[STTAB]

Weren't these the main issues between the President and General Mattis? Kurds, Syris, ISIS, Iraq?

Mattis was a war time Defense Secretary meaning he always wanted to be at war.

[Gunny]

ISIS is just another sub-cult of Islam. It's not going to go away. You can't kill an ideal. Even harder to kill the name that carries the "ideal". All those names -- AQ, Hezbollah, Hamas, Taliban, Boco Harum -- are magic words to Arabs looking to go right some wrong or die for some cause. Especially the unemployed.

They aren't going to go away. We will and that's their game. We think in terms of minutes and hours and days. They think in terms of centuries.

[Elessar]

ISIS is just another sub-cult of Islam. It's not going to go away. You can't kill an ideal. Even harder to kill the name that carries the "ideal". All those names -- AQ, Hezbollah, Hamas, Taliban, Boco Harum -- are magic words to Arabs looking to go right some wrong or die for some cause. Especially the unemployed.

They aren't going to go away. We will and that's their game. We think in terms of minutes and hours and days. They think in terms of centuries.

Well put.

[Kathianne]

Well put.

ISIS is just another sub-cult of Islam. It's not going to go away. You can't kill an ideal. Even harder to kill the name that carries the "ideal". All those names -- AQ, Hezbollah, Hamas, Taliban, Boco Harum -- are magic words to Arabs looking to go right some wrong or die for some cause. Especially the unemployed.

They aren't going to go away. We will and that's their game. We think in terms of minutes and hours and days. They think in terms of centuries.

I will defer to your expertise, but with that said, I see no reason to ever send any men or women back for any reason, short of the US itself physically being attacked.

[Gunny]

I will defer to your expertise, but with that said, I see no reason to ever send any men or women back for any reason, short of the US itself physically being attacked.

We have mutual defense agreements. IMO, each and every one should be reviewed for relevance TODAY. ANY deal with Turkey and/or Pakistan needs to get some serious looking at. All of those little Gulf States are basically paying for our protection in oil. Not going to stop that.

We should just blow Afghanistan up from border to borer. Nothing else is going to change those cavemen.

Then, there's the "War on Terrorism" that makes ISIS a legit enemy.

Is this where I point out we should never have gotten involved in or with the ME to begin with? Those people are beyond the capacity for understanding to the average Western mind. We want to "bring democracy". They can't spell it much less know what it means. We think we can figure them out and what they're about by using the "what would I do?" method. I don't know how many lefties on a different board used to lecture me on being "racist" because I said Arabs don't think like us. Well, they don't. These so-called "God-given" Rights we have were taken by and are protected by the sword, not the mouth.

We've made ourselves the bad guys with our arrogance.

To them? It's who can kick who's ass. They respect power and only authority powerful enough keep it. Like us. You falter and you're weak. That's what's wrong with Erdogan. He hasn't had the shit slapped out of his Turk ass and nothing less is going to phase him. They hate us. They are taught to from birth, You're not going to undo that with an explanation at a level of communication they don't even understand. He's going to throw crap in Trump's face until Trump does or doesn't do something about it.

One thing Erdogan accuses the US of that he is absolutely correct about is we ARE the ones that destabilized the Middle East. We should never have deposed Saddam.

But, we can hardly just pull out. And I'm not sure we should. If Iran isn't stopped, we're going to sit by, throwing words at a problem, while a country full of radical nutjobs that are eager to die for Allah to take the infidels with them get their hands on nukes and a delivery system. I'm not an expert but I suspect you only have to be so accurate with a nuke

[Kathianne]

We have mutual defense agreements. IMO, each and every one should be reviewed for relevance TODAY. ANY deal with Turkey and/or Pakistan needs to get some serious looking at. All of those little Gulf States are basically paying for our protection in oil. Not going to stop that.

We should just blow Afghanistan up from border to borer. Nothing else is going to change those cavemen.

Then, there's the "War on Terrorism" that makes ISIS a legit enemy.

Is this where I point out we should never have gotten involved in or with the ME to begin with? Those people are beyond the capacity for understanding to the average Western mind. We want to "bring democracy". They can't spell it much less know what it means. We think we can figure them out and what they're about by using the "what would I do?" method. I don't know how many lefties on a different board used to lecture me on being "racist" because I said Arabs don't think like us. Well, they don't. These so-called "God-given" Rights we have were taken by and are protected by the sword, not the mouth.

We've made ourselves the bad guys with our arrogance.

To them? It's who can kick who's ass. They respect power and only authority powerful enough keep it. Like us. You falter and you're weak. That's what's wrong with Erdogan. He hasn't had the shit slapped out of his Turk ass and nothing less is going to phase him. They hate us. They are taught to from birth, You're not going to undo that with an explanation at a level of communication they don't even understand. He's going to throw crap in Trump's face until Trump does or doesn't do something about it.

One thing Erdogan accuses the US of that he is absolutely correct about is we ARE the ones that destabilized the Middle East. We should never have deposed Saddam.

But, we can hardly just pull out. And I'm not sure we should. If Iran isn't stopped, we're going to sit by, throwing words at a problem, while a country full of radical nutjobs that are eager to die for Allah to take the infidels with them get their hands on nukes and a delivery system. I'm not an expert but I suspect you only have to be so accurate with a nuke

I really think we should just throw up the middle finger to any remaining agreements/treaties we have, they are pointless. Just like I really do believe that we should not employ military assets without total commitment, we also should not do isolation halfway. Go full speed and be done.

Deploy as so many have argued along the borders as needed, retire the rest. Stop building all the f'ing hardware and stay safe here.

[Gunny]

I really think we should just throw up the middle finger to any remaining agreements/treaties we have, they are pointless. Just like I really do believe that we should not employ military assets without total commitment, we also should not do isolation halfway. Go full speed and be done.

Deploy as so many have argued along the borders as needed, retire the rest. Stop building all the f'ing hardware and stay safe here.

Rand Paul stole Kathianne's board ID?

[Kathianne]

Rand Paul stole Kathianne's board ID?

Just going with what those who have done the hard stuff are saying. In the past years been watching as the countries we spent a lot of money and lives to keep the 'fight away from here,' revert to where they were in 2000. So be it.

If we get hit again, we do. We can live with it or not. In any case, time to stop with the loud 'build defense at the cost of $4T more in debt,' and 'stay home.' idiocy.

[Gunny]

Just going with what those who have done the hard stuff are saying. In the past years been watching as the countries we spent a lot of money and lives to keep the 'fight away from here,' revert to where they were in 2000. So be it.

If we get hit again, we do. We can live with it or not. In any case, time to stop with the loud 'build defense at the cost of $4T more in debt,' and 'stay home.' idiocy.

No, it is a much, MUCH better thing that we fight them "over there". We can't defend our own border.

[Kathianne]

No, it is a much, MUCH better thing that we fight them "over there". We can't defend our own border.

As I've been told, we've been there way past our expiration date. If we're not there, offending all those people, they'll leave us alone. Meanwhile we can stay here, deploy our 'second to none' troops on the southern or northern borders or at the ports. No tanks, no heavy arms, we'll save a fortune! All fat and happy at home. I'm feelin' the love!

[High_Plains_Drifter]

Let 'em do what they do. Reemerge or whatever.

I could be wrong, but if I were president, I'd pull damn near ALL our troops out of the middle east. Let the muslims do what they do. But if they ever pull 9/11 shit here again, on our soil, then go over and make a fucking parking lot out of them, then LEAVE. Say thank you, nice doing business with you, you fuck with us again, we'll make another fucking parking lot. Do NOT stay over there DICKING with them. What in the HELL for? Go in like a GANG BUSTER, bomb the ever loving HELL otta the bastards, knock them back to the freakin' STONE AGE, and then LEAVE. No nation building, no DEMOCRACY spreading, NO, it AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN ANYWAY, THEY DON'T WANT IT. They wouldn't know what to do with it or how to maintain if they HAD IT. Just let them be MUSLIMS, leave them alone, but if they screw with us on OUR SOIL, then inflict ALL OUT DEVASTATION on them, from the air. "Line Backer" FOUR, like we did in Vietnam, only 50x worse. Line B2 stealth bombers up nose to tail at night and just bomb, bomb, bomb.

Like I say, I could be wrong, but by God that's what I'd do if I were president. Save a shit load of MONEY and LIVES too.

[Kathianne]

Let 'em do what they do. Reemerge or whatever.

I could be wrong, but if I were president, I'd pull damn near ALL our troops out of the middle east. Let the muslims do what they do. But if they ever pull 9/11 shit here again, on our soil, then go over and make a fucking parking lot out of them, then LEAVE. Say thank you, nice doing business with you, you fuck with us again, we'll make another fucking parking lot. Do NOT stay over there DICKING with them. What in the HELL for? Go in like a GANG BUSTER, bomb the ever loving HELL otta the bastards, knock them back to the freakin' STONE AGE, and then LEAVE. No nation building, no DEMOCRACY spreading, NO, it AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN ANYWAY, THEY DON'T WANT IT. They wouldn't know what to do with it or how to maintain if they HAD IT. Just let them be MUSLIMS, leave them alone, but if they screw with us on OUR SOIL, then inflict ALL OUT DEVASTATION on them, from the air. "Line Backer" FOUR, like we did in Vietnam, only 50x worse. Line B2 stealth bombers up nose to tail at night and just bomb, bomb, bomb.

Like I say, I could be wrong, but by God that's what I'd do if I were president. Save a shit load of MONEY and LIVES too.

I'm pretty sure that is what the president has planned, at least getting our troops home. It seems he's willing to let some act as mercenaries for Europe, but that dung needs to be done too.

Stop the drain on military spending, only deploy on US land. Cut being all over the freakin' globe. Can contract out what is needed for things like Straits of Hormuz, letting the companies pay for those services. We'll save a fortune on not having our guys and girls hurt and the suicides that accompany service for too many.

We don't need to be giving away money to friends or foes. Cash and carry.

[High_Plains_Drifter]

I'm pretty sure that is what the president has planned, at least getting our troops home. It seems he's willing to let some act as mercenaries for Europe, but that dung needs to be done too.

Stop the drain on military spending, only deploy on US land. Cut being all over the freakin' globe. Can contract out what is needed for things like Straits of Hormuz, letting the companies pay for those services. We'll save a fortune on not having our guys and girls hurt and the suicides that accompany service for too many.

We don't need to be giving away money to friends or foes. Cash and carry.

I hope that is what he has planned.

We don't need to be the world's police. We don't need to nation build. We don't need to attempt to spread democracy. Especially for stone age bloody cults that will NEVER accept our way of life... EVER. Just admit it and get the hell otta Dodge.

Concentrate on America. We have VOLUMES of our own dang problems.