I agree with your comment.
But there is more to it than that.
“which led to the storming of the base after the withdrawal of the army from it. “”
Why is it smart to send our guys in there to fight, many to be killed or wounded, for a sorry bunch of cowards who throw down their weapons, take off their uniforms and run?
The Kurds don’t run.
Look what the Viet Cong did to us even though they were hopelessly out gunned.
So we go in there and lose a few thousand men, leave and then they will run from the next threat and we will have to do it all over.
If they will not fight, they deserve what they get.
We should support the Kurds every way we can and kiss off the Iraqs.
As long as Turkey is a member of NATO, the kurds are going to be a political football.
Apparently the Shia can’t or won’t fight. Which kind of explains why Sadaam’s Sunnis were able to control Iraq, despite being in the minority. In short, by insisting the Iraqi Government be Shia dominated, we backed the wrong horse.
We’re in a completely impossible position, largely because we entertained fantasies and delusions. It was a delusion that we would be able to “install” or “sell” democracy to Iraq. With zero history of a civil society and with a solid history to the beginning of time of a pre-medieval culture, there was that missing element. It surprised me at the time that there was no understanding of the idea that *any* political system ex-Islam is a de facto rejection of Islam. We were asking people to reject their religion. That never works.
However, in Afghanistan, I thought from the beginning that we should have developed small, very mobile hunter-killer units. And I believe that is the way to fight ISIS now; our guys should not so much engage in firefights but should laser designate targets that should be viciously wiped out with extreme prejudice from the air.
I agree with you as to the Kurds. The Kurdish story will be the functional equivalent of Rwanda when the history of this era is written. However, there is no arming the Kurds with Turkey involved. Turkey *is* one of ISIS’ prime sponsors as far as I am concerned. Their actions to fight anyone are strictly in their own interests, they will do zero when it comes to defending the Kurds, that is complete fantasy. They are happy to let the Kurds die. The poor Kurds are like rabbits out in the wild. Virtually every other animal considers them prey.
Yes, they deserve what they get, but we don’t deserve what they get and that is the problem.
Kurds are the only group worth supporting in Iraq.
Why waste blood and treasure on people unwilling to defend themselves for a country that’s not really a country.
The Kurdish region should be a real country, and they certainly have a culture up there worth defending.
Kurds are the only group worth supporting in Iraq.
Why waste blood and treasure on people unwilling to defend themselves for a country that’s not really a country.
The Kurdish region should be a real country, and they certainly have a culture up there worth defending.
However, I feel sorry as hell for the brave American soldiers who gave life and limb to free Iraq from Hussein just so the sawdust-for-brains American voter could put another Hussein in power here to train and turn over all the equipment to a fate far worse than than the original s.o.b. whom we captured and turned over for a justified necktie party.
Vietnam redux!