The bottom line is you have two choices for who rules the ME. Russia or ISIS. The dictators can’t hold out against ISIS. And all we want to do is help them take out the dictators. I have to choose Russia.
I'll go with the 3rd choice. That is, we step up OUR efforts against ISIS. Problem with that of course is Obama. I'm becoming more convinced every day that he is deliberately playing it weak with ISIS in order that Russia be justified to move in, do the job, then set up permanent base there.
I learned just yesterday that this would be Ted Cruz's plan (to step up air attacks on ISIS).
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"If we want to actually dismantle ISIS, we need to dramatically change course. We need a real, robust campaign that maximizes our overwhelming air advantage. We need to focus our efforts not on trying to create friends, but on supporting our real ones, especially the Kurds in Iraq and Syria who have actually had success against ISIS."
-snip-
"We can redouble our efforts to develop the defensive weapons that neutralized the offensive Soviet threat -- particularly missile defense, which has seen a 25% budget reduction under Obama, according to an analysis from the conservative Heritage Foundation, and has been constrained by bad arms deals like New START.
We should not only move quickly to install the canceled interceptor sites Putin opposed in Poland and the Czech Republic, but also to develop the next generation of systems that will only increase his discomfiture.
These options do not entail a ground war in Syria, yet would effectively shake us free from the failed policies that have brought us to our current impasse. These options set us on a new path that puts Putin on notice that the United States is reclaiming our traditional role as leader of the free world."--Ted Cruz
http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/09/opinions/cruz-syria-putin/index.html
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“I think it would be a mistake to get involved in the Syrian civil war. There have been voices in Washington eager for us to send our sons and daughters over to fight that civil war for some time. I haven’t been one of them. I think the touchstone of U.S. military policy should be protecting the national security of this country.
“What we’re seeing Putin in Russia do is a direct response to the profound weakness of Obama over six and a half years.
Putin views Obama as weak, as ineffective, and frankly, as a laughingstock. And, as a result, he is moving in, he is invading his neighbors – like Ukraine – he’s kidnapping Estonians, and he’s moving into Syria to gain a stronger foothold in the Middle East."--Ted Cruz