https://news.yahoo.com/white-house-says-...59131.html

What are the viable alternatives here?  Going to war with Turkey is not one of them.

(10-07-2019, 07:53 AM)cincydawg Wrote: What are the viable alternatives here?  Going to war with Turkey is not one of them.

Alternatives COULD be other nations aside the US always having to come in to spend money and fight for these groups who can't defend themselves.  Who could that be???????  I have no idea.

There is no other country who can put in more than a token force and support them over time.  We usually end up supplying the logistics for whatever the UK puts in anyway.

Well, there is the IDF, but we really don't want them engaged on the ground.

I am all about arming up people.  This is the CIA's wheelhouse.  Give them (Kurds) the weapons and let them fight it out.  If other countries want to join in the cause I say go for it.  America is just flat tapped out.  We have guys getting killed all over the place over there, and your average American has no idea it's even happening.  We are becoming numb to this crap. 

I suspect that this foreign policy stance is another reason the left despises Trump.  Not that they are all pro meddling/neo cons on the issue, but that Trump is taking the anti war issue away from them.  Everything is political to these people.

Our current KIA rate due to combat is quite low, but we are spending a lot of money in Afghanistan and other places.

But, it's the US or no one in most cases.  

I'm for withdrawal from the entire mideast of course, with the ability to use standoff weaponry against terrorist bases that crop up.

A list of those who abandoned the Kurds.

The Shah of Iran
President Reagan
President Bush I
President Clinton

Henry Kissinger infamously joked "%%%% the kurds if they can't take a joke".

It isn't just screwing over the Kurds that bothers me. It's kowtowing to Erdogan. It's letting the Russians save Assad in Syria. It's letting Assad use chemical weapons. It's Trump making Obama's ghastly failures in Syria even worse.

Of course we shouldn't be invading Syria. We should have supported the rebels and helped them to bring down one of the world's most brutal dictators, which we could have done without a single soldier entering the country--okay so maybe some special forces, trainers, etc. Instead, we've given carte blanche to the worst people there and for no benefit to our nation.

Our military footprint in Syria has always been special forces types, trainers, logistics and intel experts, and guys who can bring in air strikes and artillery as spotters.

What would you suggest as an alternative policy?

(10-07-2019, 11:22 AM)cincydawg Wrote: Our military footprint in Syria has always been special forces types, trainers, logistics and intel experts, and guys who can bring in air strikes and artillery as spotters.

What would you suggest as an alternative policy?

James the Humanitarian says Drop the Bomb..! read between his sentences

(10-07-2019, 11:17 AM)JamesWright Wrote: It isn't just screwing over the Kurds that bothers me. It's kowtowing to Erdogan. It's letting the Russians save Assad in Syria. It's letting Assad use chemical weapons. It's Trump making Obama's ghastly failures in Syria even worse.

Of course we shouldn't be invading Syria. We should have supported the rebels and helped them to bring down one of the world's most brutal dictators, which we could have done without a single soldier entering the country--okay so maybe some special forces, trainers, etc. Instead, we've given carte blanche to the worst people there and for no benefit to our nation.

Maybe Trump should draw some of those lines in the sand like Obama did.

(10-07-2019, 01:27 PM)Hightop77 Wrote:

(10-07-2019, 11:17 AM)JamesWright Wrote: It isn't just screwing over the Kurds that bothers me. It's kowtowing to Erdogan. It's letting the Russians save Assad in Syria. It's letting Assad use chemical weapons. It's Trump making Obama's ghastly failures in Syria even worse.

Of course we shouldn't be invading Syria. We should have supported the rebels and helped them to bring down one of the world's most brutal dictators, which we could have done without a single soldier entering the country--okay so maybe some special forces, trainers, etc. Instead, we've given carte blanche to the worst people there and for no benefit to our nation.

Maybe Trump should draw some of those lines in the sand like Obama did.

Jimmy liked it when obama drew his big red line.
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I canâ€t blame Trump here-you canâ€t say you oppose nation building and massive US military interventions and then turn around and go to war w/ Turkey over something that has zero tangible US interest. Does it suck to be a Kurd-absolutely-butâ€s that what you get when your populace is spread out over Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq.

I would like to hear an alternative.

Keep doing the same things?

Turn one of Ankara, Riyadh, Tehran, or Baghdad into a glass parking lot and say “Whoâ€s next if you people donâ€t calm down? We can do this from North Dakota and only the Chinese care about your oil.” Better yet, tell them that Medina is on target and you will give warning a week in advance to allow them to evacuate the cities population. If they still donâ€t calm down-permanently-tell them Mecca is next, with warning for civilians.