Politico: The Man Who Broke The Middle East

ISIS about to have air power, and believe me, that will up the ante.
http://news.yahoo.com/isis-threatens-grab-own-air-force-094500823--politics.html

I couldn't agree more with Rubio.
“The situation in Iraq is a growing counterterrorism emergency. This is not about saving the government of Iraq… this is an urgent counterterrorism situation that our country faces,” said Sen. Marco Rubio. “It grows more dire by the moment. Our options become more limited by the moment. And I hope if receives the attention it deserves over the next few hours… This is a rapidly deteriorating situation.”

 

We need to launch a B-52 airstrike right now TODAY and take out everything on that airbase. We cannot allow terrorists to get this weaponry in their hands. It's a game changer.

"Now, that airbase is coming under fire—and is in danger of falling into the hands of ISIS, according to U.S. intelligence officers, internal reports from Balad, and outside analysts. Reuters reported Wednesday that the base was now surrounded on three sides by insurgents and taking heavy mortar fire. "
The senior U.S. intelligence official who briefed reporters Tuesday said the military capabilities for ISIS have “dramatically improved” because of the weapons and equipment it has obtained from the Iraqi and Syrian bases the group has overrun.
If ISIS were to gain access to Balad, they would be able to acquire a significant arsenal to add to their already impressive stock of vehicles, weapons and equipment. James Codling, who served as a contractor and senior engineer on the base between 2008 and 2012, told The Daily Beast that when the U.S. forces left in 2011, they left at least 1,000 trucks and vehicles, some of them armored, along with 500 to 600 portable power generators. He also said the base housed Russian-made Mi-8 transport helicopters, small surveillance planes, military tactical vehicles, Humvees and a fleet of pickup trucks with machine guns mounted in the truck beds.

 

You are needlessly getting worked up Captain. Read up on the expertise and support it takes to keep a modern air force, let alone pilot and air control support and maintenance. I'm not against airstrikes against ISIS but we need to keep our wits about us and not overreact out of fear and emotion.

 

So what is Rubio's suggestion? How would he handle it? Anyone can see it is an emergency. The question is what do we do, if anything?

 

For one most of that equipment there is ground weaponry. Secondly, they don't need a "modern air force", they just need to get something in the air and use it for suicide missions. Lastly, these guys aren't as dumb as we think they are. They'll learn to fly, or pay someone to come and teach them. Will they be the Red Baron? No, but they don't have to be. The point is we should be destroying everything we left on the ground for the Iraqi forces. They sure as hell aren't going to use them.

 

I know what you're saying and yes it's easy to be a critic. Remember, these guys are thinking of their political careers first and foremost. Aren't too many of them with the stones to go out on a limb and make a concrete decision, especially considering there aren't any good options.
And admittly I'm not running for office, so it's easy enough to scream from the cheap seats, but while we wring our hands the bad guys grow stronger each and every day. Just ain't no way to come out of this with clean hands. Nobody wants to get dirty, but the mudpit is where this ends up.

 

Maybe you two should call the White House and see if they'll let you do an apology tour on Obama's behalf in the middle east. And then when you get back, do another apology tour in the U.S. to give you "credibility" with the left

 

You MUST be a neocon and neocons have a record of failure and a tendency to cry "wolf." Let them kill themselves... protecting our interests is arrogant and we can't afford it. Be cowed by jihadists and the hypocrites on the left and do 30 minutes of self-flagellation to repent for Dick Cheney's sins, followed by an apology tour. That should get your mind right

 

See this is what I meant. You evidently consider the Bush presidency a great success, and the two wars likewise big successes that protected our freedoms from the evil adherents of what we were told is the religion of peace.

Your heroes McCain and Lindsey Graham were demanding we bomb Iran a few months ago. Now they want us to be the air arm of the shia forces. They were absolutely desperate that we get involved in Syria. On the side of ISIS. Oops.

Same dolts were cheerleading us being the air arm of the Libyan rebels. How'd that work out?

I'm no leftist and no pacifist, but I have the intellectual integrity to recognize a disaster. In this case a series of disasters, all of which were preceded by demands that we get involved in situaitons where we had no vital interests and no business.

 

Wrong. I just prefer to leave blaming Bush to leftists and "conservatives" like you. I'd rather address the left's lies and hypocrisy. Which, if you were really concerned about "intellectual integrity," you'd focus more on. Like the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, which Bill Clinton signed into law but everyone seems to have forgotten because they're tripping over themselves to blame Bush and the evil Dick Cheney. I'd also rather face the harsh reality that the only way to stop jihadists is to kill them. Hope and pixie dust won't work. Obama tried that against the advice of his commanders on the ground yet some seem to think it's still a valid approach.