San Bernardino

Oh, I doubt that.

 

So you don't subscribe to the children of Abraham belief?

 

I'll ask again: What about the Kurds?

They're actively fighting ISIS.

They are OUR allies.

So...

 

They don't appear to be religious fanatics, but they do seem willing to deal pretty harshly with their enemies -- like everyone else in the region.

Hard to find allies over there you can be proud of.

They're also not interested in fighting for non-Kurdish land.

If we're going to drive ISIS from traditionally Sunni areas, it's not going to be with the Kurds as our boots on the ground.

 

They're only fighting for autonomy.

But, in terms of culture, they're not anti-woman. They're not anti-Jew (a portion of them actually ARE Jewish). They're anti-ISIS, and anti-jihad.

Seems pretty moderate to me.

They won't singlehandedly defeat ISIS, or terrorism in general, but they're a great example of the type of partnerships people want to form with moderate Muslims in order to combat the jihadist threat.

That collaboration is possible. It's happening as we speak. And, it works.

 

Does this mean you think we should commit to another occupation? Because it has worked so well elsewhere in the region?

How many Yazidis is it acceptable to kill in the process?

How many US soldiers is it acceptable to sacrifice in the process?

What happens when our "boots on the ground" are finished driving "ISIS from traditional Sunni areas" and Americans are left to fend off insurgents?

What's the exit strategy?

News about #Daeshbags on Twitter

 

Do they pee standing up?!

 

No, I wouldn't ignore them at all. While I do think ISIS would just as soon draw as many Western nations as possible into a large regional war - makes their lunatic case even better - I don't think you can ignore ISIS or presume that it'll go away. It has crossed too many lines, brutalized too many people, and, for lack of a better phrase, shot its wad too quickly to be anything other than addressed through a variety of ways.

But attributing their fascism and brutality and wickedness to Islam essentially frames the debate on their terms. And, since I believe in the devil, on the devil's terms, since he likes nothing more than to have his work operate under an alias.

Labeling it Islam just makes us feel better, I think. Trump - a weak-willed, irressolute person whose whole being is a reaction to environmental or circumstantial stimulus - proposes something that I suspect makes him feel better, mostly.

 

You can hold both of these opinions at the same time.

- Islam, in a literal reading of its religious texts, is driving these assholes to commit atrocities.

- The majority of Muslims disagree with these assholes, but there is still a substantial minority within Muslim communities that is kinda/sorta OK with their line of thinking.

 

Yep. Good post.

 

High Times is definitely a lefty site. You're right. It wasn't credible. ABC News and numerous other left-wing sites also ran it. Don't worry. I don't believe what I read in the leftwing media. Neither should you.

 

But B. Hussein Obama assured us that ISIS is contained.