I have thought long & hard for days about many of your comments re the present crisis in #Iraq. #1 Yes the US started it by creating the instability in the first place. If it makes one feel better… both admins can be blamed. One for starting it, the other for leaving too early. But blame doesn’t matter now. #2 #ISIS poses not only a threat to our current interests in oil & other natural resources there, but also to surrounding allied countries. #3 If ISIS is allowed to continue to grow & eventually meld with equally sinister forces in Afghan, Syria & Lebanon et al. it may grow too large for us to handle at a future time & threaten the entire region including Israel Jordan Iran & Saudi Arabia. #4 If allowed to grow further unfettered what’s to prevent it from taking #Afghanistan in a year — rendering all of our time lives & efforts there futile, OR worse posing a real threat to the US as a terrorist seeding & training ground?
 
 So… Some of you are right: the #Obama admin needs to DO something. Fast. A peaceful diplomatic strategy w life threatening repercussions should they not agree to immediately disband should be Track 1. But let’s be real: no one believes this will yield anything but delay. ISIS does not wish to become a legit organization or negotiate. They want to rule as much of the Middle East as possible as soon as possible under an ass backwards Sharia type law, or worse. Diplomacy will not work.
 
 We either need to say goodbye to ALL of our interests there for a good 50 years — AND be prepared to take responsibility for the potential deaths of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis for creating this vacuum in the first place — or be prepared for the battle of our lives.
 
 Track 2 would mean the Obama admin sends a force at least as large as GHW Bush did in 1990 — 230,000 troops or more — to the region immediately. Most can be used for intimidation, strategic civilian mobilization & repopulation & stay on standby while we use every known air & drone tool & tactic we know of to wipe them out as quickly & smoothly as possible.
 
 This is the holy war backlash we were afraid of if we ever dared invade Iraq OR Iran. How we allowed it to transpire in our name and on our watch will & should haunt us forever as a nation. Serious consideration should be given to trying those who perpetrated this catastrophic & criminal error of judgment in a court of law, as well as exploring the true reasons for their decision. But that must come later.
 
 For now we must accept that an entire generation has been born and bred hating America, not because they hate freedom or democracy, but because they’ve seen firsthand the death & destruction the US has caused to their people and to their homeland.
 
 As much as any of us long for peace, we must also understand that there can be none if the world allows a terrorist regime as large & wicked as this one to take over a land as broad, geographically significant & naturally wealthy as Iraq.
 
 Needless to say this is a battle that every American should participate in, in some way; not just soldiers or military personnel. We created this mess by allowing our government to do what it has over the last 12 years. It’s up to all of us to play a part in cleaning it up with an unquestionable finality.
 
 It should also be noted that once we lay siege yet again to this cursed land of unlucky peoples & the final blow is dealt, we should once and for all allow Iraq — and the entire Middle East region — to re-map itself as they see fit without our interference. This will inevitably split Iraq into 3 distinct little nation states. We should have allowed this from the start.
 
 As always I am curious to hear your thoughts.
 
 
 – Posted by The Ambassador using BlogPress on an iPhone 8s Custom