... is that while I've seen a lot of arguing about whether the strategy he's proposed is a good strategy or a bad strategy, I haven't seen anyone asking whether it is a real strategy or a fake strategy.
"Uproar in the east, attack in the west" (or in this case, the two directions reversed) may not be the oldest trick in the book when it comes to military strategy, but it is one of the most heavily stressed tricks in the oldest book, Sun-Tzu's The Art of War. And if the real plan is (for example) to put 10,000 ground troops in Iraq, wouldn't it make sense to say that you were going to just have a few troops there in non-combat roles, and that the real action would be in Syria? Giving a couple airstrikes in Syria to make it look like he's serious could then pull ISIS out of position while building up troops in Iraq.
So, do you think the strategy that Obama announced was a deliberate fake-out, or the real thing?
que hess and one of his "news sources"
oldtin
UberDork
9/25/14 3:05 p.m.
I blame the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the lack of a couple of decent badass dictators to keep a lid on it.Everything tried so far in the last 30 years has only managed to escalate the noise.
oldtin wrote:
I blame the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the lack of a couple of decent badass dictators to keep a lid on it.Everything tried so far in the last 30 years has only managed to escalate the noise.
You really meant you blame Sykes-Picot agreement, right?
I blame these guys. . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacco_and_Vanzetti
ncjay
Dork
9/25/14 4:44 p.m.
They had to tell me on the news this morning about the air strikes being currently conducted in Syria. Why do I need to know? Just do what you have to do and leave me out of it. I don't need to know anyone's strategy for dealing with the situation. Spend less time talking about what needs to be done, what you're going to do, and just go do it. Hey, you think John Wayne ever held a press conference and told everyone what he was gonna do to the bad guys? No, he just went out and beat the crap out of them.
Tommy Boy knows what really went down. This mess isn't 1000 years old either. Some people carry a grudge when you don't keep your promises.
I have absolute confidence that whatever the strategy, good or bad, real or fake, it will be bungled in the worst possible way.
the best strategy we could have over there- if we even had to be involved in any way- would be special forces and snipers... make the leadership (and anyone wearing that silly uniform of theirs) of the other side be afraid to go outside out of fear of their head being vaporized by a sniper shot from a mile away.. make them wonder if their Toyota truck is going to 'splode when they turn the key on..
fight terror with terror.. of course, the big military contractors don't like that kind of a war for some reason...
I recently had a decently long conversation with a former coloner who had been involved very closely with the "nation building" we did in Iraq from 2005-2011. We agreed that had been less than a success so I asked him what solution he saw to the current problem.
His ever so heartening response: "Nothing, nothing will change unless most of them are killed."
Time to isolate the E36 M3 out of the region. Stop going there and stop letting people leave. Don't buy their oil or send them anything. Globally shun them. Since this is unlikely to happen I predict the whole region will continue to be a festering sore on the buttocks of the world.
