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US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria[W:354]

Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

vesper said:
I think it would be fair to state the 100 budgeted for 2015 will be used up before 2015 even arrives. And when you consider all air weapons took a major cut in funding, how many other weapons will be the same?
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Greetings, Vesper. :2wave:

Agree with your thoughts! :thumbs: Since I don't think Tomahawks can be built in a day or two, why are we wasting them on this? You don't see Russia or China depleting their capability to defend their countries if necessary. We have already been told by our enemies that they will retaliate, and I think they meant what they said, unfortunately. I wonder how many of the five terrorist leaders we swapped recently are actively involved? You may be right on us becoming sitting ducks! :thumbdown:
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

grip said:
Does everyone believe that anytime some group around the world, hideously, kills an American or even commits a criminal act of bombing our buildings that we should retaliate with the entire US Military, and does that really solve the problem?

We don't seem to know 'what to do' or 'when to do it' for an effective outcome anymore?

We started the mess in the ME and destabilized the area, but will we ever get it back to some semblance of sane stability?
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This is a defacto terrorist state-I say that any time a defacto terrorist state starts beheading Americans and killing children for being from the wrong town that we should respond with great vengeance and furious anger. Send em to allah in style.
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

jmotivator said:
You really, really, really don't know what you are talking about. The Syrian civil war was sparked during the "Islamic Spring" which was brutally crushed by the Assad regime. Militants flocked to Syria to help overthrow Assad. The US, under the leadership of Barack Obama, tacitly supported the Islamic militants in Syria over Assad under the mistaken assumption that they would be allied to the US due to US support. This has been the standard Achilles heel of Obama throughout his presidency in his ME policy. His "we'll offer a hand if you unclench your fist" plays precisely to the Islamic militants in Syria (and Libya and Egypt) who play along until they have built a strong enough army to break loose and start expanding their area of control.

This con game has been going on for a few years now: Islamic Militants melt into a group of "student uprising", the resident dictator stomps "student uprising", Obama comes to the rescue and boots out the dictator, "student uprising" is over powered by Islamic militants.

This didn't happen in Iraq because we hung around in Iraq to combat this Islamic uprising after Saddam fell. It came from Syria because Obama doesn't know what the hell he is doing and backed the Islamic Militants in Syria.

General rule of thumb that Obama fails to understand: In the Middle East you either back the dictator or you put boots on the ground and overthrow him yourself and maintain he peace. Helping overthrow the dictator and not putting boots on the ground to maintain the peace gets you AQ controlling Libya and ISIS controlling half of Iraq and Syria.
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Its amazing how many people dont know these fundamental facts.
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

matchlight said:
Really? I seem to recall that the overwhelming application of military force for several years put an end to the idealology of Nazism as a serious threat to the world.
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Well, you're correct Nazism is not a serious threat at the present time, but it does still exist and in the future it could once again rear its ugly head.
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

Fearandloathing said:
Interesting that your first and, apparently, only consideration in this war is what the "conservatives" think. Which, I suggest, this "war" has not one thing to do with terrorism but over all public opinion heading into the mid terms.

I am neither happy nor sad, but still asking 'what is the objective'? and how will it be achieved through aerial bombardment alone?

American progressives, in their headlong, blind rush to prove that Obama is incapable or error seem to have lost sight of what is war. People, civilians die not only in the bombing but as has been learned in Vietnam and other ugly little wars, civilians are the target for reprisals and there is NO way to prevent that without boots on the ground. We have seen the medieval horror these vermin are capable of, Obama announced his attack weeks beforehand allowing ISIS cells to go underground. They will re-emerge to torture and behead in retribution.

So, what is required here is not an on going political, name calling feud, but actually seeing this as war and not a political chess piece to be moved around an imaginary board. Progressives and the president need to pony up and start answering some of these questions. What Republicans may or may not be doing is irrelevant. Finding an end to a war Obama said he had ended is the priority.
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Well stated and I'd argue that the best way to end any war is to WIN it. Appeasing enemies and singing about peace only lead to more of the horrors of war.
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

jmotivator said:
General rule of thumb that Obama fails to understand: In the Middle East you either back the dictator or you put boots on the ground and overthrow him yourself and maintain he peace. Helping overthrow the dictator and not putting boots on the ground to maintain the peace gets you AQ controlling Libya and ISIS controlling half of Iraq and Syria.
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Yeah, so who ousted the dictator of Iraq causing all this chaos and giving Iran hegemony over the region? Say it loud!
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

MMC said:
BO has announced we were successful.....and they hit Khorasan due to them going into their final phase of an attack in Europe or here.


c4a8166a78858825600f6a706700669c.jpg


Army Lt. Gen. William Mayville, Jr., Director of Operations J3, speaks about the operations in Syria, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014, during a news conference at the Pentagon. In a separate action from the air strikes against the Islamic State group, the U.S. bombed a cell of al Qaida militants in northwestern Syria after concluding they were close to attacking the U.S. or Europe, Pentagon officials say. Mayville, the Pentagon’s operations chief, said that the Khorasan Group was nearing “the execution phase of an attack either in Europe or the homeland." ......snip~


2014-09-23T154118Z_1563502836_TM3EA9N0VWA01_RTRMADP_3_SYRI A-CRISIS-STRIKES.JPG


Pictures showing what U.S. officials say was an ISIL finance center in Syria show a view before (L) and after it was struck by a Tomahawk missile in handouts released by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) September 23, 2014. The United States and its Arab allies bombed Syria for the first time on Tuesday, killing scores of Islamic State fighters and members of a separate al Qaeda-linked group, opening a new front against militants by joining Syria's three-year-old civil war.....snip~

Airstrikes in Syria: US, Arab allies hit IS sites
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Looks good, heres a view from the ground. Death from above in the dark of night. He sounds scared. This is what ISIS has brought on itself.
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

US Conservative said:
Because Obama is working with Arabs, Israel is going to keep quiet as a church mouse unless its directly attacked again. They have struck syria in the recent past though.
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Greetings, US Conservative. :2wave:

I realize that ISIS is a threat, but I also wonder if Israel doesn't feel a little uncomfortable that we are partnering with countries that have openly called for their destruction. I've also noticed that Palestine has been quiet lately, too. They aren't making the headlines any more, but that could be because the media is totally focused on the current situation with the air strikes, I guess, and we just aren't hearing their complaining about Israel, even though I very much doubt they've changed their mind!
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

MMC said:
50k inside Syria.....and 30k in Iraq is what has been reported.

Here is a map of the Strikes.


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Map of Syria showing air strikes by the US and allies on IS jihadists and Al-Qaeda affiliates....snip~
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80K! Didn't know it was that high but its growing fast. Eastern Syria is on fire-ISIS is getting a dose of reality.
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

US Conservative said:
80K! Didn't know it was that high but its growing fast. Eastern Syria is on fire-ISIS is getting a dose of reality.
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Yep, and the only reason we didn't hit Deir Ezzor is due to Assad having troops there and fighting ISIS over the Oil Fields.
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

FaceofBachmann said:
Yeah, so who ousted the dictator of Iraq causing all this chaos and giving Iran hegemony over the region? Say it loud!
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Obama abandoned it. If Obama can't play with the cards he was dealt, as every president before him has had to do, maybe he should just quit.
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

matchlight said:
That's exactly why it was so stupid for the U.S. to bomb Japan and Germany during World War II. Why, that was no way to achieve peace in a volatile situation! It just made the Japanese and Germans want to take revenge. We should never make any enemy mad at us, because if we make him feel icky he will just react by doing things to make us feel icky, too.
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Ah hello?

I missed the part where the Allies announced that it was a "no boots on the ground" kind of deal. I seem to recall there was this thing called "D-Day" where the Allies landed a little over 150,000 troops in one day. And two atomic bombs used in Japan. Is that what you're suggesting?

As is usually the case with progressives there is a total lack of understanding of history or war for that matter. Again we see an over simplification of the issue to the point of absurdity. The issue is not the aerial assaults, but only aerial assaults announced weeks ahead of time amid a direct promise of "no boots on the ground." So the comparison is idiocy in itself. ISIS knows the entire US strategy and have apparently figured out where the bombs will land. Hitler was convinced by some clever footwork of the British the allies were planning to invade the north, and the bombing raids were carried out to perpetuate that myth and limit Germany's ability to re-supply and re-arm. The Nazi's were surprised and overwhelmed, the bombing was used to "soften the target" for an invasion.

So the differences are extensive, starting with the fact the Allies had a strategy, one designed by the smartest military men in the west, kept it secret and carried it out. Obama has no strategy, certainly not one designed for military success, has pre-announced his plans and appears incapable of carrying them out.

It's time to start dealing with the questions, the unanswered questions instead of deliberately diverting attention from them.
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

US Conservative said:
Dems were all about overthrowing saddam until they decided to play politics for 2004. Some of us have short memories so its best to be reminded.
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It's not a right vs left issue. The Washington elites were going to do what they were going to do regardless of which party was in office.

You don't screw with the petrodollar. Doing so will get your country invaded by the US. Sadaam learned that lesson the hard way. He inaccurately calculated that by switching oil sales in to Euro, the EU would protect him.

While the EU nations did bitch and moan about the Iraq invasion, they didn't lift a finger to help Sadaam.

Today, Iraq sells its oil in dollars once more. We won. Mission accomplished.
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

vesper said:
I think it would be fair to state the 100 budgeted for 2015 will be used up before 2015 even arrives. And when you consider all air weapons took a major cut in funding, how many other weapons will be the same?
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Thats certainly reasonable, Im just saying we have more than 100 (even if thats how its budgeted) and we aren't likely to continue to use them at this pace. I dont expect attacks like this to keep up, the arabs dont have the stamina, and our president doesn't have the will. Obama will strike from time to time up until the election, it will serve as a distraction from the rest of his fail, and paint him as tough on terror. This is ALL about politics with Obama.
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

US Conservative said:
This is a defacto terrorist state-I say that any time a defacto terrorist state starts beheading Americans and killing children for being from the wrong town that we should respond with great vengeance and furious anger. Send em to allah in style.
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There's a danger of allowing small personal attacks to control us with reactions. Any country that doesn't do the unexpected sometimes, and control their own goals, are suspect to be manipulated against their own long term benefit.
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

matchlight said:
It's hard to see what these small Gulf states could have contributed other than the use of airbases there. And there are a couple bases in the outback of Jordan that could have been useful, because they are closer to the areas attacked, for launching search and rescue missions or drone strikes.

But I keep wondering, why not Cyprus? I would think the British are right with us on all this, and they have at least one large, well-equipped airbase there. Because Cyprus is so close to the target areas, and because a good part of a flight from there would be over the ocean, where there is no threat of anti-aircraft fire, it seems very well suited as a base, especially for the fighter-bombers involved. When strikes are launched from a long range, each aircraft can carry less weight in weapons and needs other aircraft to refuel it.

Could it be that Turkey has some influence over the British bases on Cyprus, and President Pinprick is worried about offending his Islamist pals in the Turkish government?
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My first thought when you mentioned Cypress was the turkish presence there. Plus I think we had other options, like a carrier force and refueling wing.
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

grip said:
There's a danger of allowing small personal attacks to control us with reactions. Any country that doesn't do the unexpected sometimes, and control their own goals, are suspect to be manipulated against their own long term benefit.
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That's what I'm saying.

The enemy is practically telling America it wants them to send troops back in.

That's gotta tell you something.

If the enemy is goading you very strongly to do something, chances are it could be a mistake.
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

MMC said:
They took out a Syrian Fighter over the Golan this morning. Right when we began our attacks.
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Yeah I heard, I'd guess the Syrian jet veered into Israeli airspace by accident. Turkey did the same thing last year, IIRC.
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

US Conservative said:
Well stated and I'd argue that the best way to end any war is to WIN it. Appeasing enemies and singing about peace only lead to more of the horrors of war.
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You mean an all-out offensive? Naval and Air supported invasion of a large enough enough force to destroy, disband and disarm the enemy?

There is the small problem of the mid terms and Obama's "peace" prize and the still lingering smell of how Al-Qaeda was put out of business in Libya and how he had solved Iraq before and that maybe this war on terror thing is not winnable, like Vietnam.

Hard to make all that work with body bags coming back. Might have had there been some success in the past, but it's been nearly 14 years of constant warfare, your allies have been ground down, and the nation is weary of being frightened all the time.
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

pbrauer said:
Well, you're correct Nazism is not a serious threat at the present time, but it does still exist and in the future it could once again rear its ugly head.
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The point was it was marginalized. It didn't "create more".
 
Re: US Airstrikes Under Way in Syria

humbolt said:
Obama abandoned it. If Obama can't play with the cards he was dealt, as every president before him has had to do, maybe he should just quit.
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Deflection. The proposition (i.e., rightwing talking point) was that you shouldn't oust dictators in the middle east. So -- SAY IT LOUD NOW -- who ousted Saddam?
 
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