U.S. Marine Veteran Killed While Fighting ISIS In Syria

Army Military News ^ | January 30, 2017 | Joshua Raymond-Castro

[freeandfreezing]

It is not legal for an American citizen to just hop on a plane, fly around the world and join another army.

That doesn’t make him special. It’s makes him a mercenary.

Under your theory aren't the various US citizens working as private contractors in foreign countries to assist friendly forces mercenaries? Like the guys who work on various CIA operations?

From your point of view the guys who got killed in Libya defending fellow Americans were mercenaries, since after all they weren't in the US military, they weren't the embassy guards and they were certainly getting paid to fight.

How do you know this guy wasn't a CIA embed with the Kurds?

[freeandfreezing]

Of course, some would have us believe that there is only one good side in this fight, and that this fine man wasn’t on it.

This guy was fighting with the Kurds, and probably not far from US special forces guys doing the same thing. For all anybody knows he could have been a CIA embed.

[elhombrelibre]

We’re essentially in agreement. I have no reason to believe he was CIA, but he was definitely fighting with people who are fighting with CIA and SOF forces. I cannot say about the other poster, but some folks here are very much in the pro-Assad camp because of their fondness for Putin. They therefore claim anyone fighting against Assad is ISIS. They also ignore Assad’s ties to al Qaeda during the years the US was in Iraq and Assad was facilitating al Qaeda as they travel to Damascus and on to Iraq to kill Americans. They also ignore Assad’s ties to Hezbollah and Iran. But some even now support Iran since they believe we must fight all Sunni Muslims, which also ignores the fact that the Kurds are mostly Sunni. To the say the least, some people just don’t want Assad to lose and see him, like Putin, as a paladin of Christianity, a very weird idea.

[elhombrelibre]

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/09/07/7-sep-16-world-view-2013-history-syrias-bashar-al-assad-created-isis/

[freeandfreezing]

That article suggests Assad's actions lead to ISIS, but by that test John McCain's actions, along with that of other US officials in the Obama administration lead to ISIS.

Apparently at one point in time at least ISIS was close enough to the Obama administration that John McCain could meet with ISIS leaders in Syria.

[D Rider]

I have met enough in the US military in it for the benefits... college, etc. Are we really going to do the my motives are more pure than your motives thing?

[patro]

Maybe he didn’t go there because he liked it. Maybe he didn’t go there because he wanted money. Maybe he didn’t go there because he likes killing. Maybe he went there because he doesn’t like little girls getting their heads cut off, and maybe he doesn’t like little boys having their hands removed for failing to execute family members. Maybe he’s sick of girls being forced into sexual servitude and gangraped every day. Maybe he’s sick of hundreds of families being lined up facing ditches, strafed with gunfire, and covered over with dirt.

[elhombrelibre]

Probably doctored photos. I get it. You prefer Assad to McCain. After all, Assad fought for the USA and spent many years as a POW. McCain inherited a nation from his daddy, a socialist dictator, and he drops barrel bombs on market places.

[freeandfreezing]

Hard to say who exactly is in the photograph, and Sen. McCain probably doesn't know either. But the photograph originally appeared on John McCain's verified Twitter account. I suggest you go take a look and tell me if the photo has been doctored or not. Or better yet ask Senator McCain, who posted it.

Photo as posted by Sen. McCain

And you don't get anything. But clearly you are more concerned about Assad than ISIS, which is fine.

[patro]

Not the Marines. Marines don’t get the “perks” that the others do. You join the Marines to become a Marines, that’s it.

[patro]

Thank you for the post. I didn’t expect to see the kind of crap responses here that I would normally see in the comments section on a Daily Kos article.

[elhombrelibre]

I'm more concerned with ISIS, and that's is why Assad needs to attack them the most. He and Putin both attack any forces that could be a reasonable alternative to Assad. ISIS was invented by Assad and grew out of the al Qaeda support Assad provided to counter US efforts in the Middle East, especially in Iraq. He supported and facilitated their transit to and from Iraq. Assad is less aggressive now against ISIS to assure there is only a binary choice that people won't find acceptable. He, like ISIS, is a monster. They both kill indiscriminately and to terrorize. You don't drop barrel bombs on market places because they're a military objective, as Assad does. Similar examples are too abundant for ISIS; they use terror as Lenin proscribed: "The purpose of terror is to terrorize."

So those are my opinions. I don't think saying or implying that Assad is a good guy or someone who shares our values is accurate. I don't see any reason to fool ourselves about him.

[D Rider]

I’ll give you that. Marines are a pleasure to work with.