The Middle East Crisis, Time For Boots on the Ground ?

[mongers]

Is it time that Western government deployed combat units to fight and defeat ISIL on the ground in Iraq and/or Syria?

My view is yes we should and do it soon. The reasoning being, it will take at least a year to get any Iraqi or Kurdish forces retrained/reorganised so that they can pose a real existential threat to ISIL.

Just as ISIL had a moment of opportunity, which the took with both hands, when they expanded into the Syrian vacuum and more specifically broke the back of much of the Iraqi Army. Now they have exposed themselves to conventional attack as they moved from solely terrorist/guerilla attacks to taking and holding territory.
The Western armed forces are good at rapidly taking back occupied lands, so they should be used to smash ISIL on the ground in first Iraq and then sweep into Syria. I see this as an extended smash and grab raid on a grand scale, bringing along with them whatever Iraqi and Kurdish forces they can. I think now is the time to smash the ISIL invincibility myth they've created around themselves and give the occupied peoples of their domain the chance to throw off their chains.

I characterise it as a smash and grab raid, as the aim should be limited to doing the maximum damage to them in a short campaign, of which the current air campaign and associated 'transportation' plan is an important first step.

The western forces shouldn't hang around to become targets for a growing terrorist campaign carried out by any residual ISIL fighters, but should leave the areas to be taken over by whatever opportunistic forces, be these Kurds, Sunni militia, Syrian Kurds, FSA or even forces of the Syrian government. Give those who oppose ISIL a once in a lifetime opportunity to reassert themselves, if they fail, then the policy should be one of containment only, like that which effectively limited Saddamite Iraq for a dozen years.

Clearly ISIL will have planned for such an eventuality and triumph each individual death of a Western soldier, plus things will go wrong, helicopter crashes/accidents can claim 20-40 lives in a single go, but I feel the risk reward in terms of lives lost and money spent would be much better than the combined positive of the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Additionally  'we' need to fully get into the business of killing foreign jihadis, particularly if they come from our own western countries, we should be demonstrating to them, our domestic population and the wider world that their suicide death cult is a literal dead end, with no domain on earth.

[Razgovory]

I'd rather not.  Let's see if we can get Iran to do it.

[Tonitrus]

Inclined towards "no".  If only for the reason that it has been show in that region that our help and assistance is mostly met with ingratitude.  Indifference at best.

The only real exceptions are maybe the Kurds, and those whose positions in power depend on our help.

[Jacob]

Voted No, as a Westerner.

[LaCroix]

drones and other air strikes should be sufficient to support the local troops already on the ground

[Tonitrus]

Inclined towards "no".  If only for the reason that it has been show in that region that our help and assistance is mostly met with ingratitude.  Indifference at best.

The only real exceptions are maybe the Kurds, and those whose positions in power depend on our help.

And I'll qualify that by saying I support the air strikes, because the financial cost of bombs is worthwhile to kill ISIS nutters. 

And while I don't think a large scale "boots on the ground" deployment should be considered.  Small scale embedded special forces troops, and people to help better coordinate air strikes and drone activity is fine as well...preferably mostly with the Kurds (but then I would be a supporter of Kurdish independence as well).

[Grallon]

It's been known for some time now what needs to be done - but nobody is willing to do it... not yet: use nuclear fire to cleanse the whole region.

Once the Kaaba, Jerusalem, Medina, Karbala, and whatever other places are precious in their eyes have been vaporized - once their cities have burned - it should help break the spirit of the remaining filth that's already metastasizing the West.  From the borders of India to the coasts of Morocco - from Turkey to Sudan and to Indonesia - burn them all!  When the Dar-al-Islam has been shattered - the survivors will, in time, assimilate and the whole accursed death cult finally disappear.

So say we all!



G.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Fuck no.

[crazy canuck]

Voted no.

Assuming ground troops accomplish anything - what is the plan after that?

[mongers]

Voted no.

Assuming ground troops accomplish anything - what is the plan after that?

I outlined it in my post.

[Razgovory]

It's been known for some time now what needs to be done - but nobody is willing to do it... not yet: use nuclear fire to cleanse the whole region.

Once the Kaaba, Jerusalem, Medina, Karbala, and whatever other places are precious in their eyes have been vaporized - once their cities have burned - it should help break the spirit of the remaining filth that's already metastasizing the West.  From the borders of India to the coasts of Morocco - from Turkey to Sudan and to Indonesia - burn them all!  When the Dar-al-Islam has been shattered - the survivors will, in time, assimilate and the whole accursed death cult finally disappear.

So say we all!



G.

Or we could just roll you up in blanket and hit you cricket bats.  That seems easier.

[MadImmortalMan]

We should tomahawk their oil fields so they run out of money.

[Valmy]

Too risky.  The Muslim world is turning against ISIS.  The only way for them to recover their prestige and popularity would be for them to be fightng the evil yanqui pigdogs and kill them every once in a while.  That is why they are grabbing every American they can get their hands on and cutting his head off.  Best to fight them by proxy on the ground.

[Grallon]

They let the dwarf out of his cage again!



G.

[garbon]

It's been known for some time now what needs to be done - but nobody is willing to do it... not yet: use nuclear fire to cleanse the whole region.

Once the Kaaba, Jerusalem, Medina, Karbala, and whatever other places are precious in their eyes have been vaporized - once their cities have burned - it should help break the spirit of the remaining filth that's already metastasizing the West.  From the borders of India to the coasts of Morocco - from Turkey to Sudan and to Indonesia - burn them all!  When the Dar-al-Islam has been shattered - the survivors will, in time, assimilate and the whole accursed death cult finally disappear.

So say we all!



G.

Or we could just roll you up in blanket and hit you cricket bats.  That seems easier.

Hear, hear!