Our enemies, Islamic State, attack Syrian Kurds, refugees flood Turkish border

[Ace Nova]

Collateral damage is horrible no matter what the scale. That is why it was good they went for the raid option instead of blowing up the compound. They had civilians, women and children. One woman was killed but she was either going for a weapon or had a weapon in hand. Bin Laden may have used one of his wives as a shield but the SEAL had good aim.

ISIS is a different animal than Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda moved secretly, ISIS is out in the open. They are an actual state. So going at them in a more conventional sense is the logical option. They may have maybe 40,000 fighters, but these guys are committed. That is enough.

I think the conventional stage is now, more or less, with the air-strikes. They will more than likely begin to hide, like Al-Qaeda or use human shields, like Hamas....or a combination of both.

Either way, they won't last long.....they don't stand a chance in conventional warfare....even at 40,000 fighters (that's by far the highest number I've seem....at least half of those would be recent, unskilled recruits) they would be out numbered 10 - 1 against Turkey, the Syrian Rebels, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Not to mention the fact that they would be fighting 3 or 4 fronts .....lol...yeah, good luck with that.

So most likely, they will begin to use unconventional warfare and that's when intelligence and special ops comes in.

[Len Cnut]

Can i ask a broad question of the Americans here, as a matter of curiosity? Do you feel a greater attachment to America or to whatever your heritage might be, if it's like Irish or Scotish or a mix of stuff or...how does it work for you?

I identify with the families of those people getting their heads cut off. I want justice for them no matter where they are from.

Edit: To answer your question Lenny, it's not like a ballgame to me, what with an allegiance to any side. I want someone to go in and get those bastards. I don't care who does it. Someone needs to get them. I want them to stop killing people from all over the world and from all religions or those of no religion.

Apologies if i was misleading but my question had nothing to do with Islamic terrorists, it was a broader question based on the average Americans sense of nationality, based on the tide of conversation in the thread, sorry, suppose it was off topic.

[AdriftatSea]

Can i ask a broad question of the Americans here, as a matter of curiosity? Do you feel a greater attachment to America or to whatever your heritage might be, if it's like Irish or Scotish or a mix of stuff or...how does it work for you?

I identify with the families of those people getting their heads cut off. I want justice for them no matter where they are from.

Edit: To answer your question Lenny, it's not like a ballgame to me, what with an allegiance to any side. I want someone to go in and get those bastards. I don't care who does it. Someone needs to get them. I want them to stop killing people from all over the world and from all religions or those of no religion.

Apologies if i was misleading but my question had nothing to do with Islamic terrorists, it was a broader question based on the average Americans sense of nationality, based on the tide of conversation in the thread, sorry, suppose it was off topic.

I feel a greater attachment to America. I've never been to Portugal, wouldn't mind going one day. Although my heritage is there my true roots and allegiance would always be with America.

[Len Cnut]

The reason i ask is cuz it's something i see a lot more in America than other countries, this allegiance to where you are at as opposed to your heritage, it's a curious phenomena. I guess it's not an across the board rule but...

[Dazey]

The reason i ask is cuz it's something i see a lot more in America than other countries, this allegiance to where you are at as opposed to your heritage, it's a curious phenomena. I guess it's not an across the board rule but...

This fat bird I worked for in Philly back in 2000 was convinced she was Irish despite never having left the U.S. Also she was horrified at us when we used to get lashed! Fuckin' Irish, my fucking sweaty ring piece!!!

[Roush]

That's the funny thing. They could easily come over here and walk around as tourists and no one would blink an eye. Yet, an American is as good as dead on their turf.

As far as you saying you're not their enemy....I'm willing to bet James Foley said the same exact thing to them.

Depends on where you go in the US. Also, these guys live in fear of drones every single day:

Interesting definition of "Imminent threat" Orwell talked about how the language gets bent and words start getting redefined.

Equivocation is key within propaganda in general. Be it on American, Russian, or Chinese soil.

This ol' ISIS thing is a hoot, eh? Look at us breaking the bread over the ethics, and being all dignified. Like it changes anything whether you agree, or disagree. Meanwhile, there's somebody making an absolute mint on Drone sales.

[Jakey Styley]

The reason i ask is cuz it's something i see a lot more in America than other countries, this allegiance to where you are at as opposed to your heritage, it's a curious phenomena. I guess it's not an across the board rule but...

It depends on how many generations you gotta go back until you find ancestors from your place of heritage. I have to go back like 6 generations until I find my dad's family came from Czechoslovakia or some shit. When someone asks my mom what her ethnicity is, she starts listing off every single country in Europe. In Philly, and probably most coastal cities, it's common for people to ask "where are you from?" or the less nicely worded "what are you?" and i usually reply "i dont really associate with anything" or if i dont care for the person I lie and say "i'm half black" (majority of people believe it)

But anyway, a lottt of the kids I know are first or second generation immigrants. Most of them would call themselves Ukrainian or Uzbek or Palestinian before American any time. As for most other cases, especially (as I would suspect at least) in the south and more rural areas, people are just going to call and think of themselves as Americans.

Except for people with Italian or Irish blood. They will always make a point to let everyone know how they're "one quarter Italian" or "half Irish".

Edited October 4, 2014 by Jakey Styley

[Val22]

Yeah where are the special forces that are trained to find and kill these people? Is that all bullshit?

The world should know by now these terrorists don't give up and they don't fear death. If you don't fear death, what is left to threaten them by?

I hope it doesn't take ten years to take them down. The US doesn't have that kind of time. It's crazy how Iraq is almost in the enemy hands again. What did the US and it's allies teach the Iraqi army? Are they just giving up or did they forget their training? Maybe they're just tired of fighting for freedom? Very sad to think that.

Edited October 4, 2014 by Val22

[Satanisk_Slakt]

I hate all newspapers writing about it, it's such a boring conflict. Ugh.

[Ace Nova]

This fat bird I worked for in Philly back in 2000 was convinced she was Irish despite never having left the U.S. Also she was horrified at us when we used to get lashed! Fuckin' Irish, my fucking sweaty ring piece!!!

She must have been out of the norm for a Philly Irish girl. I grew up in Philly and just about everyone I knew of Irish descent would drink like a fish.

[Georgy Zhukov]

Yeah where are the special forces that are trained to find and kill these people? Is that all bullshit?

It really isn't that easy. It takes time. Bin Laden's death worked out because not only they killed him, but they took his body. It takes years for it to happen.

As for the Iraqi army. Basically the Iraqi people were fine before the US came in. They had Saddam and his crazy sons but they were no different than the leaderships of Sryia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. They are more loyal to their own turfs than Iraq. Iraq is just the name of a state drawn up by the late British Empire. Just a spot on the map. They just don't give a fuck.

As for use of the word "freedom" in that world, freedom means "nothing to gain." Americans are naive and narcisssic to think everyone in the world wants "freedom". It means different to them than to us. A lot of these people just want to live among their own people. Sunnis with Sunnis, Kurds with Kurds, Shia with Shia. It is basically the Balkans of The Middle East.

[Dazey]

This fat bird I worked for in Philly back in 2000 was convinced she was Irish despite never having left the U.S. Also she was horrified at us when we used to get lashed! Fuckin' Irish, my fucking sweaty ring piece!!!

She must have been out of the norm for a Philly Irish girl. I grew up in Philly and just about everyone I knew of Irish descent would drink like a fish.

She almost had a fuckin' heart attack when we started on the JDs on my birthday that year.

[Ace Nova]

This fat bird I worked for in Philly back in 2000 was convinced she was Irish despite never having left the U.S. Also she was horrified at us when we used to get lashed! Fuckin' Irish, my fucking sweaty ring piece!!!

She must have been out of the norm for a Philly Irish girl. I grew up in Philly and just about everyone I knew of Irish descent would drink like a fish.

She almost had a fuckin' heart attack when we started on the JDs on my birthday that year.

You guys should have taken her to a good ole' Irish Pub like Finnigan's Wake.....that place would go off on St. Paddy's day....I don't think I've ever left that place without a girl in hand....

[wasted]

Only reason US will lose to IS us because they don't really exist.

[Johnny Drama]

The reason i ask is cuz it's something i see a lot more in America than other countries, this allegiance to where you are at as opposed to your heritage, it's a curious phenomena. I guess it's not an across the board rule but...

This fat bird I worked for in Philly back in 2000 was convinced she was Irish despite never having left the U.S. Also she was horrified at us when we used to get lashed! Fuckin' Irish, my fucking sweaty ring piece!!!

Well if her background was 100% Irish she wouldn't be wrong.

[wasted]

Just think the US should just stay out of it. Any Americans in the area just get out. Any conflict is futile.

[Georgy Zhukov]

I want to see them do battle with drug cartel. Just because.

[Val22]

Yeah, I agree. I think the Iraqi people were better off with Saddam. Okay, they didn't have freedom, but they went about their lives and were used to it.

Sometimes freedom isn't what people need. Sometimes they need a firm hand to keep things in order.

It's just one big mess that I don't see ending anytime soon.

[Georgy Zhukov]

They didn't have freedom then and they certainly don't have it now. They were free to live their lives by whatever faith. As long they obey the laws and not diss the government. I mean there were horrifying things going on, but now it has multiplied because there isn't anyone protecting them.

Americans are not entirely free as they think. Sure we have liberties, but our education is terrible. Our media is too biased. It is too controlled. So controlled that people will believe anything, including crackpot conspiracy theories. We are pressured to spend money we don't have. To work hard for less. All to keep the 1% living lavishly. Any revolutionary, socialist or marxist ideas are put down just because of our exaggerated memories of the cold war.

[Johnny Drama]

The way America handles it's healthcare for the sake of "freedom" is nothing short of third world.

[Dazey]

The reason i ask is cuz it's something i see a lot more in America than other countries, this allegiance to where you are at as opposed to your heritage, it's a curious phenomena. I guess it's not an across the board rule but...

This fat bird I worked for in Philly back in 2000 was convinced she was Irish despite never having left the U.S. Also she was horrified at us when we used to get lashed! Fuckin' Irish, my fucking sweaty ring piece!!!

Well if her background was 100% Irish she wouldn't be wrong.

Fuck right off! Of course she would! She's never set foot in the place so how can she be Irish?