Journalist James Foley executed by ISIS

This has all been in the NY Times, YF, aren't you keeping up?

Militarily, we're conducting a campaign of airstrikes to protect Americans and vital infrastructure, and keep ISIS from further advancing. We're also arming the Kurds (along with France, Britain, Germany, Italy and others) and providing humanitarian aid.

Diplomatically, the U.S. played a big role in ousting Maliki, who was a shining example of the Bush Doctrine at work.

 

So, containment then?

 

Sure there has. It's called, "Clean up the predecessor's messes."

 

Actually, it seems like, at least in some areas, ISIS is being pushed back toward Syria and that the air campaign is yielding strong results.

http://online.wSportsJournalists.com/articles/some-commanders-of-insurgency-in-iraq-retreat-to-syria-1408561933

 

I watched the Foley beheading video and was shocked to see him apparently try to grab onto the blade.

 

Cheney thinks now's the time to invade Iran.

 

Yikes.

 

Obama can't just clap his hands and solve this. He could send in troops, but they'd be stuck in the same quagmire that defined the last decade in that country. You'd kill a lot of fighters. You'd retake territory. But enough would survive to reconstitute when we drew our forces down again and they'd be back. Why? Because there are obviously enough people in Iraq that agree with them enough to provide bodies and support. There isn't some kind of "crazy fighter" factory where these guys spawn from. They come from Iraq and the region around it and they feel like they're fighting for something important.

I see two solutions.

One, at some point the central government in Iraq grows powerful enough to kick out ISIS. Saddam was strong enough to hold this crumbling country together. Hopefully a new central government that grows powerful enough to handle ISIS can do it without Saddam's murderous quirks.

Two, Iraq breaks into three states, Kurds, Shia and Sunni. There'd be plenty of ethnic cleansing, plenty of refuges moving from one area to another, but in the end everyone who wants to be together would end up together.

Until one of those two things happen, this whole thing will run in a cycle.

 

We attempted a rescue, shame it wasn't successful:

U.S. special operations forces early this summer launched a secret, major rescue operation in Syria to save James Foley and a number of Americans held by the extremist group ISIS, but the mission failed because the hostages weren’t there, senior administration officials told ABC News today.

President Obama authorized the “substantial and complex” rescue operation after the officials said a “broad collection of intelligence” led the U.S. to believe the hostages were being held in a specific location in the embattled Middle Eastern nation.

When “several dozen” U.S. special operation members landed in Syria, however, they were met with gunfire and “while on site, it became apparent the hostages were not there,” one of the officials said. The special operators engaged in a firefight in which ISIS suffered “a good number” casualties, the official said, while the American forces suffered only a single minor injury.


http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/james-foley-us-military-launched-secret-rescue-operation/story?id=25060796

 

John Kerry @JohnKerry · 4h

There is evil in this world. ISIL = ugly, savage, inexplicable, nihilistic, valueless evil.

ISIL must be destroyed/will be crushed.

 

Sometimes the President playing golf upsets even a New York Times columnist:


Ross Douthat @DouthatNYT · 5h

Struggling to reconcile my belief that critiques of presidential hobbies/vacations are stupid with my annoyance at Obama's golfing today.

 

Oh my.

I am hating myself for chuckling.