No not familiar with the Kurds I never had a need to do so .
It would seem to me the U.S. forget the coalition the U.S. would need to send the minimum of 2 million troops to occupied the middle east for an indefinite period of time , the band -aid fix won't work , we can bomb them day night 24/7 it won't work , didn't work in Vietnam not going to work in Syria or Iraq or Afghan , but what might help is take out Saudi Arabia they are bank rolling a lot of the problem .
You might be onto something there...
Remember Bin Laden was a Saudi Prince and was bank rolled by non other than the Saudi King to keep him out of the Kingdom .
I'm getting the feeling that many people here don't understand who we are dealing with.
These aren't a bunch of terrorist holed up in a cave. They do have a capital city which is Raqqa in Syria. They not only have a government but also have civil services. They have food inspectors who monitor quality of goods and prices..... They have medical services with Doctors. Firefighting services, courts, police.
Their leader Dr.Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.... yes, he has a PHD.
Most importantly they have battle hardened forces. Some of which have 10+ years of experience fighting. They survived us the Americans and our allies. They steam rolled the Syrian army and they disgraced the Iraqis.
These aren't terrorist, they are something else. They have grown into a fully fledged state.
I used to be a cav scout, It was my job to study enemy forces and paint pictures for battlefiled CO's.These guys are a serious red flag and I want them exterminated.
Forgot the mention, they have at least 2 billian dollars in funding and the CIA puts their numbers at 31,000.
Like an intel analyst too I guess. Let's not get ahead of ourselves on what 19Ds do and don't do.
I think everyone here is quite aware of what ISIS is. Let's also not make them into supermen. They are not. Everything you've said about ISIS can be said about the Taliban too who will undoubtedly do something similar or more once we leave A-stan. They've been fighting for 35 years...
I think the big question on everyones mind is who's going to pay for US boots on the ground. Also, US boots on the ground would help....at first, but then we would revert back to COIN after initial victories and once those in power in the region stopped feeling the knife in their neck we will undoubtedly become embroiled in the bickering and power jockeying of every sheik, mullah, or next "al Baghdadi". Before we rush to failure, I think it wise to step back and look at the big picture. What's the end game? Whatever that end game is, are we willing to pay for it with blood and treasure....again?
Also, the pesh seem to be doing quite well themselves. May be a good idea to reinforce that success.
You never answered what squadron you were in I asked from the intro thread...
I'm not questioning your service. I question whether it gives you an advantage over anyone else to interpret what is coming out of that area of the world. Simply serving doesn't necessarily make one an expert.
Be careful now, we aren't here call out anyones service. At the same time, many of us in here may have spent as much or more time in the area we are talking about as you spent in the service...