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US hostage Kassig 'killed by IS'

Infinite Chaos

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A video released onto the internet claims to show that Islamic State militants have killed the captured US aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig.
In the video, a masked militant stands over a severed head said to be that of Mr Kassig. Link.

Condolences to his family, their pleas seam to have been ignored.

I'm particularly angry about the deaths of aid workers, people who have gone to help - been captured by the very people they went to help, handed over to jihadists and then beheaded.
 
RIP. Life is cheap under ISIS, and Obama has allowed ISIS to flourish. These attacks will continue until our weak President decides to get serious.
 
RIP. Life is cheap under ISIS, and Obama has allowed ISIS to flourish. These attacks will continue until our weak President decides to get serious.

How has our President been weak in terms of handling ISIS, and what does it mean to get serious?
 
RIP. Life is cheap under ISIS, and Obama has allowed ISIS to flourish. These attacks will continue until our weak President decides to get serious.

What should he do? Lay out your strategy.
 
RIP. Life is cheap under ISIS, and Obama has allowed ISIS to flourish. These attacks will continue until our weak President decides to get serious.

It's so incredibly lazy that you just waltz in here to hurl insults at Obama but can't seem to lay out what should be done. I mean is that all you people do around here? Whine about Obama without providing any kind of substance?

Did you realize there were beheadings under Bush? Did you cry about him being weak? Selective outrage.
 
It's so incredibly lazy that you just waltz in here to hurl insults at Obama but can't seem to lay out what should be done. I mean is that all you people do around here? Whine about Obama without providing any kind of substance?

Did you realize there were beheadings under Bush? Did you cry about him being weak? Selective outrage.

Obama needs to follow Bush's lead and launch another multi-trillion dollar war in the Middle East. Then babysit the nations he topples/agitates indefinitely so that civil war doesn't break out. Perhaps he can drop bundles of money on the doorsteps of tribal leaders so that they have an incentive not to kill each other. Although wealth redistribution doesn't work in America (according to conservatives), it might work in the Middle East.
 
Obama needs to follow Bush's lead and launch another multi-trillion dollar war in the Middle East. Then babysit the nations he topples/agitates indefinitely so that civil war doesn't break out. Perhaps he can drop bundles of money on the doorsteps of tribal leaders so that they have an incentive not to kill each other. Although wealth redistribution doesn't work in America (according to conservatives), it might work in the Middle East.

I know man, I can't believe these people. It seems like DP is just a place for lazy old people to shake their fist angrily and whine about Obama without providing any actual constructive input. It's a tragedy this happened but on no ****ing planet is this Obama's fault. Why don't we blame the mother ****ers that did this instead?

Or if we want to get really creative why don't we blame the guy who destabilized the region by invading it?
 
I know man, I can't believe these people. It seems like DP is just a place for lazy old people to shake their fist angrily and whine about Obama without providing any actual constructive input. It's a tragedy this happened but on no ****ing planet is this Obama's fault. Why don't we blame the mother ****ers that did this instead?

Or if we want to get really creative why don't we blame the guy who destabilized the region by invading it?

We're not allowed to blame Bush. It's been 6 years, and if Obama can't clean up the Middle East in that amount of time, it's time to give the job back to Republicans. What this situation needs is some good ol' Texas backbone.
 
They are barbarians. Rest in Peace Peter, knowing that your efforts for your fellow mankind is recognised and appreciated.

Sincere condolences to Mr Kassig’s family and friends.
 
Condolences to his family, their pleas seam to have been ignored.

I'm particularly angry about the deaths of aid workers, people who have gone to help - been captured by the very people they went to help, handed over to jihadists and then beheaded.

Horrible but predictable news. And, I agree it is terrible about aid workers and so forth being the targets that end up beheaded on the internet.

As unfortunate and cruel as it will sound, the families pleas had little hope of doing much. This is the true nature of religion, cutting someone's head off and screaming about God while doing so. ISIS is too convinced they are doing what is right, and too firmly entrenched in the regions they now occupy taking advantage of a long term civil war in one nation and a weak government in another.

All that said we are here now due to decades of interceding in the region trying to convince a group of people to adopt western governmental and sociological ideologies that said people in the region have no aptitude for, and primarily because of this horrible religion they mostly follow.

Society will never advance all that far so long as we are held back by these relics of human design.
 
Condolences to his family, their pleas seam to have been ignored.

I'm particularly angry about the deaths of aid workers, people who have gone to help - been captured by the very people they went to help, handed over to jihadists and then beheaded.

That is not quite true. The aid workers are in direct and head on competition to the terrorists. They are delivering a public good that is highly important to stabilizing and deepening IS power. Competition would defuse allegiance.
 
RIP. Life is cheap under ISIS, and Obama has allowed ISIS to flourish. These attacks will continue until our weak President decides to get serious.

One problem we have is that we cannot stop the terrorists. These movements go on and on. When I was a kid they were already targeting Americans. So we can wipe up the mess in Syria and Iraq for maybe $ 1/2 trillion. But we are not willing to do the nastiness necessary to quiet the bad guys for good.
 
How has our President been weak in terms of handling ISIS, and what does it mean to get serious?

It appears that "getting serious" means engaging in an endless ground war against largely unknown folks in a large portion of the world while pumping massive amounts of aid to the very governments that allowed them free reign to do so. Of course, if the gov'ts in the region decide to do some beheading of their own then we must topple them as well - rinse and repeat.
 
Much as I love pointing out the many flaws and weaknesses of Obama, I dont know what more Obama can do right now. He underestimated the threat of ISIS...sure. He mishandled the Iraqi troop pullout, screwed up the negotiation process which involved leaving a significant deterrent force in place, (ignoring even his own political advisers) true. But...after ISIS began rolling he engaged and is still engaging using really the only tools at his disposal. If he goes in full bore, guns blazing, people on the right will be critical of engaging. If he does nothing, people on the right will be critical of doing nothing. His Obots will defend him no matter what but many on the left will just accuse him of going to war to appease the eeeeevil right wing neocons. And as of this writing, the world doesnt appear to be lining up to help out. Realistically, the drone attacks and air strikes are his best option.
 
Obama needs to follow Bush's lead and launch another multi-trillion dollar war in the Middle East. Then babysit the nations he topples/agitates indefinitely so that civil war doesn't break out. Perhaps he can drop bundles of money on the doorsteps of tribal leaders so that they have an incentive not to kill each other. Although wealth redistribution doesn't work in America (according to conservatives), it might work in the Middle East.

Perhaps this can be tried in parts of Chicago just to test the theory and to help refine our tactics. If we cannot control street gangs in our own cities then controlling ISIS is clearly not possible. The best one can hope for is to limit their territory (and thus their victim pool?) to designated "tribal zones".
 
My sincere condolences to his family, colleague's, and friends.

There is no easy solution to ISIS and their ilk. Whatever has happened in the past, Obama today has few viable ISIS options available without committing/expending an unacceptable level of additional American blood and treasure.
 
RIP. Life is cheap under ISIS, and Obama has allowed ISIS to flourish. These attacks will continue until our weak President decides to get serious.

For ****'s sake, the Bush Administration helped create ISIS. :doh

My sincere condolences to the friends and family of Mr. Kassig.
 
Horrible but predictable news. And, I agree it is terrible about aid workers and so forth being the targets that end up beheaded on the internet.

As unfortunate and cruel as it will sound, the families pleas had little hope of doing much. This is the true nature of religion, cutting someone's head off and screaming about God while doing so. ISIS is too convinced they are doing what is right, and too firmly entrenched in the regions they now occupy taking advantage of a long term civil war in one nation and a weak government in another.

All that said we are here now due to decades of interceding in the region trying to convince a group of people to adopt western governmental and sociological ideologies that said people in the region have no aptitude for, and primarily because of this horrible religion they mostly follow.

Society will never advance all that far so long as we are held back by these relics of human design.

Oh give me a break. I am so sick of the "it's religion" crap. It's not religion, it's a perverted ideology. Plenty of non-religious ideologies have killed millions. Far more in the name of man or mans want than any religion.

Save the anti religious rants for the philosophy forum.

Obama has little to do with what ISIS, is doing. He can only do so much without going to war, another war we don't want or need. It's a damn shame that partisan hacks blame everything on the president like he has some almighty power or something. I saw it with Clinton, Bush and now Obama, it's just silly at this point.
 
Obama needs to follow Bush's lead and launch another multi-trillion dollar war in the Middle East...

At this point it certainly would be better than the old Kennedy/LBJ model of ramping up more and more involvement while denying it, then just feeding our sons and daughters into the sausage grinder they create...

According to the Obama/average liberal progressive claim in '08, all we had to do was get our big, clumsy boots off their soil, and all would be fixed. Instead what the world saw was a progressive President that struck out to apologize, and lick the boot of our enemies all over the ME, if not the world, and knew from that moment that Obama was a fool, and America was now toothless in action...This breeds groups like ISIS, and to date, Obama, has done little, to nothing other than lip service to address it...

He struck out to make sure that we knew that we were no more exceptional than a Greece, or France, or England, and by God, he is succeeding in making damned sure that is the case.
 
Oh give me a break. I am so sick of the "it's religion" crap. It's not religion, it's a perverted ideology. Plenty of non-religious ideologies have killed millions. Far more in the name of man or mans want than any religion.

Save the anti religious rants for the philosophy forum.

Obama has little to do with what ISIS, is doing. He can only do so much without going to war, another war we don't want or need. It's a damn shame that partisan hacks blame everything on the president like he has some almighty power or something. I saw it with Clinton, Bush and now Obama, it's just silly at this point.

Be sick and tired all you would like but it is truth.

Remove their religion and there is little reason to lop someone's head off screaming "Allah!" ISIS, while extreme, is not doing something entirely unique when it comes to harsh treatment of anyone they deem a problem. The entire idea of branding "religious extremism" is not new either. While I completely agree that Islam is furthest behind the evolutionary curve when it comes to growing up we have plenty of historical examples of just about all religions killing many while claiming "God's will." Fact is ISIS is not the first group to behead whomever they capture, nor are they the first group to take advantage of weakened leaders of these nations.

Remove all of our interference in the region headed back a very long time and odds are the landscape of the region would be very different. What is so inconvenient here for everyone is Obama is now the 4th president in a row to engage in military action somewhere in Iraq for some reason. You do not get to ignore all that history just because ole (D) and (R) is getting picked on politically. Like it or not, we have been playing over there for a very long time trying to instill our brand of western ideologies in a region made up with people with no aptitude for the said ideologies we are selling.

Another inconvenient truth is those that make up ISIS have been there a very long time and are now taking advantage of a long term civil war in Syria that we are not so responsible for, and a weak government and military in Iraq that we are entirely responsible for. Again, we do not get to re-write things today just because we are starting to realize what we have done (rather not done.) Our confusing and hypocritical foreign policy (under several Presidents now) has come back to bite us in the ass. Again.

Fact is the Iraq government we left behind is both incompetent and weak, and in that region of the world means all those ideological differences among the splinters of their faith are showing up. Look at those that make up ISIS today and you will find plenty of ties to the region depending on leader you want to discuss. Look all over the region as a whole and you will see a group of people splintered from various faiths that cannot and usually do not get along unless they are forced to living under someone strong enough by both military and religious means. You may not like all of this but an objective review of Middle East history (both long term and recent) confirms it all.

Case in point for it all, more people being beheaded.
 
Last edited:
Middleground;1063984657[B said:
]For ****'s sake, the Bush Administration helped create ISIS. :doh[/B]

My sincere condolences to the friends and family of Mr. Kassig.

ISIS came out of Syria and that is all on Obama. Your attempt to blame Bush is beyond pathetic.
 
Very sad news, another selfless individual, just there to help, senselessly murdered by an organization of pure evil.

It's also pretty sad people want to use this as a political football, but it's the usual, juvenile lot that are incapable of viewing the world through any other prism except their politics.

There aren't many black and white moments in a world full of contradiction and contrast, where one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter etc.

But in this case, often a rarity, we really do have an organization, that is evil and that must be wiped out from the face of the Earth.
 
Be sick and tired all you would like but it is truth.

Remove their religion and there is little reason to lop someone's head off screaming "Allah!" ISIS, while extreme, is not doing something entirely unique when it comes to harsh treatment of anyone they deem a problem. The entire idea of branding "religious extremism" is not new either. While I completely agree that Islam is furthest behind the evolutionary curve when it comes to growing up we have plenty of historical examples of just about all religions killing many while claiming "God's will." Fact is ISIS is not the first group to behead whomever they capture, nor are they the first group to take advantage of weakened leaders of these nations.

Remove all of our interference in the region headed back a very long time and odds are the landscape of the region would be very different. What is so inconvenient here for everyone is Obama is now the 4th president in a row to engage in military action somewhere in Iraq for some reason. You do not get to ignore all that history just because ole (D) and (R) is getting picked on politically. Like it or not, we have been playing over there for a very long time trying to instill our brand of western ideologies in a region made up with people with no aptitude for the said ideologies we are selling.

Another inconvenient truth is those that make up ISIS have been there a very long time and are now taking advantage of a long term civil war in Syria that we are not so responsible for, and a weak government and military in Iraq that we are entirely responsible for. Again, we do not get to re-write things today just because we are starting to realize what we have done (rather not done.) Our confusing and hypocritical foreign policy (under several Presidents now) has come back to bite us in the ass. Again.

Fact is the Iraq government we left behind is both incompetent and weak, and in that region of the world means all those ideological differences among the splinters of their faith are showing up. Look at those that make up ISIS today and you will find plenty of ties to the region depending on leader you want to discuss. Look all over the region as a whole and you will see a group of people splintered from various faiths that cannot and usually do not get along unless they are forced to living under someone strong enough by both military and religious means. You may not like all of this but an objective review of Middle East history (both long term and recent) confirms it all.

An entire rant that did not address anything I said or back up what you said....

Horrible but predictable news. And, I agree it is terrible about aid workers and so forth being the targets that end up beheaded on the internet.

As unfortunate and cruel as it will sound, the families pleas had little hope of doing much. This is the true nature of religion, cutting someone's head off and screaming about God while doing so. ISIS is too convinced they are doing what is right, and too firmly entrenched in the regions they now occupy taking advantage of a long term civil war in one nation and a weak government in another.

All that said we are here now due to decades of interceding in the region trying to convince a group of people to adopt western governmental and sociological ideologies that said people in the region have no aptitude for, and primarily because of this horrible religion they mostly follow.

Society will never advance all that far so long as we are held back by these relics of human design.

That is what I was addressing. You have yet to prove that...

Taking off heads is the "true" nature of religion or that religion is somehow holding society back.
 
These people have been very true to their word. "Pay us off or we kill the person" results in the person being killed if they are not paid off and the person not being killed if they are paid off. It is just a matter of whether or not people are willing to pay for someone else's life. Clearly they have not been willing to do so when it comes to the recent beheadings. Whether or not we should pay them off is debatable, the outcome if we do not is not.
 
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