Iraq: Out of the desert into Mosul (closed)

[TheCurmudgeon]

The situation between Red China and Japan stands on its own. All this stuff happens to be happening at the same time.

We are all bound to wait and see at least until the beginning of 2017. The current administration will do nothing but wait and see.

My point is nothing but thinking and figuring can be done until then and I would be pleased if you professional soldier guys started contemplating.

I disagree with your base assumption that the current administration will do nothing. I actually believe the current administration is acting far more prudently than the previous administrations that, arguably, are directly responsible for ISIS having a slice of Iraq.

Most of us are always contiplating what can be done. That is not the real question. The question is what SHOULD be done. We can kill AQ or Taliban leadership with drones. The question is, should we? What is the result? Who comes next? Is that better, or worse, than the previous option?

At this point a number of entities that I would like to see weakened are fighting amongst themselves. While I am obviously interested in the situation, I do not see any reason to alter the dynamics, particularly if we really want a long-term presence in Iraq. My guess is that we will use Drones. I sincerely hope that we do not get involved at all at this point.

Yes, this is a bit of a game of chicken, but I am still in favor of watching things unfold for a bit longer before taking any action.

I am still of the opinion that it is easy to lead a jihad, it is harder to govern a large territory. That we can do more to weaken ISIS by letting them try to hold and govern a swath of Syria/Iraq than we can by giving them the moral victory of being engaged directly by the Great Satin (ops, wrong group).

Particularly when the stories leak out of how life really is in an ISIS controlled area. My guess is that fewer people in the Levant will be interested in coming under their control once they see how they actually rule.