General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSyria is bombing ISIS (and gawd knows who else)
Syrian government aircraft bombed Sunni militant targets inside Iraq on Tuesday, further broadening the Middle Eastern crisis a day after Israeli warplanes and rockets struck targets inside Syria.
Iraqi state media initially reported that the attacks near Iraqs western border with Syria were carried out by U.S. drones, a claim that was quickly and forcefully denied by the Pentagon.
Separately, the Pentagon said that 90 additional U.S. troops arrived in Iraq, part of a group of up to 300 military advisers that President Obama said last week he would deploy there to assess the situation before taking any further U.S. military action. A statement said that U.S. aircraft are now flying 30 to 35 manned and unmanned daily surveillance flights over Iraq.
<more>
http://wapo.st/1jhsAEv
We need to completely stay out of this. There is no way we aren't going to bomb somebody that will make it a worse mess and increase the hostility towards us.
Maliki refuses to form any type of coalition government that will include Sunnis not enamored of ISIS.His intransigence guarantees further gains by ISIS because there has to be a coordinated effort by ALL those opposing them.
Put pressure on those supporting ISIS.
When I try to even begin to entangle who supports who and who we are allied with, I get a headache and give up.
liberal N proud
(60,334 posts)Jim__
(14,075 posts)But, if the Iraqi state, the state that we want to prop up, is blaming us for the bombing, then it looks like hostility towards the US will increase without us doing anything.
Are_grits_groceries
(17,111 posts)Don't forget Israel just bombed Syria too.
We cannot figure out what to do to who except in limited places.
The Sunni population in the captured areas are generally behind ISIS right now. That may change as their heavy hand comes further down.
If we take part, we will push more Sunnis to join ISIS. Just like Al Qaeda, we could be a great recruiting tool.
I am not blaming Obama yet, but this particular mess is in his lap. Sending trained observers in to get a real idea of the conditions there may be necessary. That is risky, but we need to know something besides all the static from others. Beyond that, ???
You can blame Bush all you want for getting us to a certain point, but our actions now are not his. Bush certainly started the Iraq hot mess, but ISIS grew greatly fighting in Syria. The next moves are tricky and could cause more harm than good.
This is the Gordian Knot and we have no method to cut through it.