Posted on 05/12/2016 5:06:14 AM PDT by SJackson
The top U.S. intelligence official is running out of options to bring peace to war-ravaged parts of the Middle East.
I dont have an answer, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in an interview with Washington Post columnist David Ignatius.
The U.S. cant fix it. The fundamental issues they have the large population bulge of disaffected young males, ungoverned spaces, economic challenges and the availability of weapons wont go away for a long time. Even if armed forces are able to root out al Qaeda, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other extremist groups in Iraq and Syria, the area will be in a perpetual state of suppression for a long time, Clapper added.
The comments are among the most pessimistic about the Middle Easts future from the nations top spy and reflect growing conviction within the administration that the protracted instability will outlast President Obamas time in office.
Despite the efforts of the U.S. and allied nations, Syrian rebel groups have failed to clear ISIS from its self-proclaimed caliphate and are locked in a stalemate with embattled President Bashar Assad.
The fight against ISIS and other extremists will last decades Clapper told the Post, even while ISISs territory is slowly narrowed.
Theyve lost a lot of territory, Clapper said. Were killing a lot of their fighters. We will retake Mosul, but it will take a long time and be very messy. I dont see that happening in this administration.
As he nears the end of his time in office, Obama has been willing to express his frustration with international partners. Recent comments suggesting that foreign free riders, such as Saudi Arabia, arent pulling their weight to manage chaos around the globe, for example, have been scrutinized.
Clapper shares the president's mood, he said.
But thats not the same thing as calling for the U.S. to back away from its role in the world, as presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump has suggested.
I dont think the U.S. can just leave town, Clapper said. Things happen around the world when U.S. leadership is absent.
We have to be present to facilitate, broker and sometimes provide the force."
It seems to me the obvious solution is to lock them in their countries, don’t let any of them out, and tell them to have at it with each other. We’re only giving them what they want.
No mention of ideology as the overriding problem? Or part of the problem at all?
I’m over in Abu Dhabi right now. Lot’s of foreign workers here of which a good number are Christians. Every Mass I have attended since July has been standing room only. I understand foreign workers are not what you are talking about though. When I was in Israel, Egypt and Turkey, all the Christians that I met there loved their homeland and wanted to continue to live there. Bottom line, your point is well taken but I hold out hope.
And they've been present for a long time. It only seems worse because information is so easily obtained in the modern world.
They've been killing each other forever. There is no profit in taking up sides and creating a common external enemy for both sides to hate. Maybe Israel or Jordan but Saudi Arabia or Iraq? Or worse yet, working to overthrow stable (but evil) strongmen in Syria or Libya?
Our recent interventions have resulted in one disaster after another.
Time to rethink our role, if any, in the Middle East.
Oh, and let's stop trying to be the social services agency to the world ... disaffected youth and economic problems ... Judas Priest.
Come now, Clapper. I’m sure you can come up with another “Least untruthful” answer if you think about it.
Trump hadn’t called for the US to leave
That’s only half his quote
Trump has said if they want us to stay, and be the
world’s 911, they need to pay
Sounds like he is right on track
Wouldn’t it be nice if the press did accurate investigation
And corrected misstatements on the spot
That is a good start!
sniff, sniff, that is so beautiful. In the morning.
Because his boss is on the side of the enemy and doesn’t want a solution.
There’s no way to fix the hatred that is deliberately bred in islamic countries. The best we can do is keep the savages out of civilized countries, and we’re not doing it. bammy is bringing in a million or so of them.
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