Mosul has fallen

[T.Lex]

Expat - maybe you've hit upon something. Maybe, in a very zen way, it all balances out for the left.

Femalegenitalmutilation = bad
Nomorechristians = good

That could explain the ambivalence.

 

[printcraft]

Expat - maybe you've hit upon something. Maybe, in a very zen way, it all balances out for the left.

Femalegenitalmutilation = bad
Nomorechristians = good

That could explain the ambivalence.

Sort of like some of the same people that are for gay marriage say that marriage between man and woman is akin to legalized rape.
It depends on how big of a hypocrite you are when defending those positions. The bigger the hypocrite, the less it matters.

 

[Phil502]

Well, we may be talking about different things. (Are you thinking of manipulation?)

In my experience, the left vociferously condemns foreign cultures that engage in female genital mutilation. Of course, I find the practice itself abhorrent, but I also recognize that as a reflection of the cultural norms within which I was raised. Different cultures value things differently.

Condemns it or excuses it as cultural/religious idiosyncrasy?

 

[T.Lex]

Condemns it or excuses it as cultural/religious idiosyncrasy?

Well, there could easily be a split on the left that I'm not familiar with - I admit that I don't travel too much in those circles.

But, when it has come up in my conversations with people from that side of the aisle, it seems to be one of the few big foreign policy interventionist things they get up in arms about. The FGM gets them more outraged than summary executions or ethnic cleansing (mostly of Christians).

I could be wrong, though.

 

[Phil502]

Well, there could easily be a split on the left that I'm not familiar with - I admit that I don't travel too much in those circles.

But, when it has come up in my conversations with people from that side of the aisle, it seems to be one of the few big foreign policy interventionist things they get up in arms about. The FGM gets them more outraged than summary executions or ethnic cleansing (mostly of Christians).

I could be wrong, though.

I'm sure they are more worked up about a few gnats getting killed by rifle fire than the execution of a few non- believers.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

The country is in the best of hands:

WASHINGTON: US and Islamic State: ?We did see this coming? | World | Merced Sun-Star

Top men.

 

[mrjarrell]

At this rate the IS will manage to starve the people of the cities out.

Islamic State evicts Iraq farmers - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

 

[ZombieApocolypse]

Well, ISIS has gone and done it now. This development will almost certainly get attention from Obama.

Jihadists in Iraq Order Women Undergo Genital Mutilation

Nothing gets the left more riled up about foreign affairs than genital mutilation.

This would explain the lack of support Jews are getting in tbe media

 

[mrjarrell]

After being pushed back and overrun the peshmerga of the Kurdish are preparing a counteroffensive. The IS just keeps right on going into Iraq and taking over everything they try to get. Best of luck to the Kurds. Looks like they're going to need it.

https://news.vice.com/article/kurdish-forces-prepare-to-counterattack-the-islamic-state

 

[Justus]

After being pushed back and overrun the peshmerga of the Kurdish are preparing a counteroffensive. The IS just keeps right on going into Iraq and taking over everything they try to get. Best of luck to the Kurds. Looks like they're going to need it.

https://news.vice.com/article/kurdish-forces-prepare-to-counterattack-the-islamic-state

Yep, ISIS (or ISIL) is definitely a force to be reckoned with. I read recently that they are setting their sights on Saudi Arabia

 

[mrjarrell]

Yep, ISIS (or ISIL) is definitely a force to be reckoned with. I read recently that they are setting their sights on Saudi Arabia

It's just IS (the Islamic State) now. They changed their name when they took over half of Iraq.

 

[1911ly]

Yep, ISIS (or ISIL) is definitely a force to be reckoned with. I read recently that they are setting their sights on Saudi Arabia

Normally I'd say the Saudi's have nothing to worry about. But not with this administration. I doubt Obama will do anything to stop them. The work that was done in Iraq has been flushed down the toilet. I don't want to see another war but if ISIS is not stopped they will just keep expanding. At some point we will face them again. But probably after they have Saudi and Iraqi oil money to back them. They now control of a dam in Iraq. They can flood the area around it now. They have even more control then they had. they are getting stronger. They aren't going to stop until they (Isis) are defeated. Peace is not in there charter. Fight them or might as well get comfortable with buying the women in your family a burqa's.

 

[jdmack79]

Fight them or might as well get comfortable with buying the women in your family a burqa's.

I must have missed where IS captured a blue water navy. How is IS going to force my woman, here in Indiana, to wear a burqa?

 

[Kirk Freeman]

I must have missed where IS captured a blue water navy. How is IS going to force my woman, here in Indiana, to wear a burqa?

Via Department of Justice ukaz.

 

[CathyInBlue]

It's not very charitable, but I say let IS take over as much of the Arab/Muslim world as they can. It'll weaken, not strengthen them. Them being a combination of the Arab/Muslim world, global Islamofacist jihad, and IS itself. We tried our best to strengthen Afghanistan and Iraq. We failed. There is no shame in that. If giving a nation-state power over itself cannot succeed in creating a powerful nation-state that can stand on its own, then maybe the answer is in the opposite. Kind of like the attitude of Gabriel in the movie Constantine. Give these backward people a taste of Hell on Earth, inflicted not by us, but by their own kind. See if they learn to rise up and stand on their own feet that way.

I'll be waiting with bated breath when IS starts marching into Paki and Saudi territory. So, the Arab world is on fire after we spent so much time dousing it in fire-retardant foam. Oh well. This is gonna be fun.

 

[T.Lex]

Can't say I completely disagree with that attitude.

For me, the problem is building strong enough fences. Like Turkey - it is a predominantly Muslim nation, but not (generally) of the islamofascist kind. So, it makes sense to support Turkey's efforts to both have a strong defense and a buffer (Kurdistan).

Similar thing goes for Saudi Arabia, except for the petrodollars at stake there. Take oil out of it, and I wouldn't shed any tears over the fall of the House of Saud. But, we can't really take the oil out of the equation, so then it gets complicated.

Then there's Israel. A petro-rich, fundamentalist IS is going to eye the destruction of Israel as a high priority. That'll really test USian commitments.

Life is complicated. :/

 

[CathyInBlue]

I agree that we should be supporting legitimate moderate nation-states that happen to be Muslim, like Turkey, and when it's not eating itself, Egypt. The issue with supporting Kurdistan is we already burned them once. If I was a Kurd, I wouldn't trust the US any further than I could shot-put a Gerald R. Ford class aircraft carrier.

A) What kind of support do the Kurds need?
B) What kind of support can we give them now?
C) What kind of support would they accept from the US?

 

[T.Lex]

Totally agree about the Kurdish-US relationship. Good for them for resisting the urge (apparently) to turn to Russia or China for help. Pretty much agree with your approach to Kurdistan.

Saudi, Syria, even Iran will be the problems. Although, if it could be contained an IS/Iraq v. Iran fight could be interesting.

 

[T.Lex]

Counteroffensive on Mosul:
BBC News - Iraq crisis: Mosul air strike 'kills dozens'

Interesting about the ethnic minority Yazidis. There aren't (relatively) very many of them, so it probably won't count as ethnic cleansing.

 

[mrjarrell]

The IS has a large number of the Yazdi's trapped on a mountain where they're going to let them die of starvation and thirst. The Iraqi government is worse than incompetent. Sad, that all these people are likely to be killed. Hopefully the peshmerga can do something.

https://news.vice.com/article/yazid...ic-state-militants-and-slowly-dying-of-thirst