US military: Iraq can't take back land on it's own - Polidicks

[QUOTE]The most senior US military officer says Iraq's defence forces will need outside help to regain territory lost to Sunni militants. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said US advisers now conducting an assessment of Iraqi forces were reporting the military was "capable of defending Baghdad" but it "would be challenged to go on the offense, mostly logistically challenged". "If you're asking me will the Iraqis at some point be able to go back on the offensive, to recapture the part of Iraq that they've lost, I think that's a really broad campaign quality question," General Dempsey told reporters at the Pentagon. "Probably not by themselves." US forces have six assessment teams on the ground in Iraq aiming to evaluate Iraq's capabilities and determine how US forces can best help the government repel extremists that have seized large parts of the country. Iraq is grappling with an onslaught of Sunni Muslim militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which has now changed its named to Islamic State. The militants have seized large areas of northern and western Iraq and are threatening to march on the capital Baghdad. Their advance has been so successful, in part, because forces under Shiite prime minister Nouri al-Maliki failed to assert their positions last month. The United States, which focused much of its effort following its 2003 invasion of Iraq building up Iraq's security forces, is now seeking to help the Iraqi military repel those militants. At the same time the Obama administration does not want to get bogged down in another war in Iraq, especially with political bickering continuing in Baghdad as officials try to form a new government following an April election. Both General Dempsey and US defence secretary Chuck Hagel urged Iraqi leaders to form a unity government. "Unless the Iraqi government gets the message out that it really does intend to allow participation by all groups, everything we're talking about makes no difference," General Dempsey said. Mr Hagel said US forces had established a second US-Iraq Joint Operations Center in Iraq. The new centre, in Erbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous northern region, will complement work done by the first centre in Baghdad. US president Barack Obama has ruled out returning troops to Iraq but has said the US might conduct air strikes on ISIS targets. General Dempsey also appeared to open the door to more direct action by US soldiers against ISIS.[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-04/iraq-forces-will-need-help-to-regain-lost-territory-pentagon/5570750[/url]

Yeah, you can't do much better either.

[QUOTE=pentium;45293777]Yeah, you can't do much better either.[/QUOTE] Hey hey hey! We can take back land just fine! It is just the moment we leave, it seems to get lost again...

[QUOTE=pentium;45293777]Yeah, you can't do much better either.[/QUOTE] *won't do much

This is what happens when they destroy the only unifying [I]force.[/I]

[QUOTE=pentium;45293777]Yeah, you can't do much better either.[/QUOTE] Could infect the ISIS forces with ebola and claim it was brought over by African mercenaries. Though that would be more CIA than military. I'm not endorsing it. I'm just pointing out that they can do much better. It's just that things like ethics and sanity hold them back.

[QUOTE=Grimhound;45294009]Could infect the ISIS forces with ebola and claim it was brought over by African mercenaries. Though that would be more CIA than military. I'm not endorsing it. I'm just pointing out that they can do much better. It's just that things like ethics and sanity hold them back.[/QUOTE] And then the CIA planted ebola spreads to the Iraqis and the rest of the Middle Eastern population. Sounds like the kind of backfire that would happen from a US intelligence agency operation.

[QUOTE=Grimhound;45294009]Could infect the ISIS forces with ebola and claim it was brought over by African mercenaries. Though that would be more CIA than military. I'm not endorsing it. I'm just pointing out that they can do much better. It's just that things like ethics and sanity hold them back.[/QUOTE] Why ebola, there are no strains that are both able to be transmitted via the air and also harmful to humans.

[QUOTE=Tagger;45294081]And then the CIA planted ebola spreads to the Iraqis and the rest of the Middle Eastern population. Sounds like the kind of backfire that would happen from a US intelligence agency operation.[/QUOTE] Ebola kills too fast to cross militia lines, but ya releasing a biological plague on the middle east would be bad

Well if the Kurds were in power they could. But the Kurds don't give a fuck if it isn't in their turf.

[QUOTE=pentium;45293777]Yeah, you can't do much better either.[/QUOTE] The US would route ISIS pretty quickly, the problem would be making sure it stayed out of their hands, permanently. Although it really doesn't matter, >1,000 US 'advisers' aren't going to be enough for that kind of operation. And good luck convincing an incredibly war weary US public that another 10,000+ US soldier need to go back to Iraq. Additional luck will be needed in order to un-fuck the political situation in Iraq too. Having US soldier potentially die in Iraq again while Iraqi politicians bicker would be the height of insanity.

[QUOTE=draugur;45294285]Well if the Kurds were in power they could. But the Kurds don't give a fuck if it isn't in their turf.[/QUOTE] The Kurds are in no shape to go on the offensive anyway against ISIS, even if with the Iraqi military. [editline]4th July 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Srillo;45294373]The US would route ISIS pretty quickly, the problem would be making sure it stayed out of their hands, permanently. Although it really doesn't matter, >1,000 US 'advisers' aren't going to be enough for that kind of operation. And good luck convincing an incredibly war weary US public that another 10,000+ US soldier need to go back to Iraq. Additional luck will be needed in order to un-fuck the political situation in Iraq too. Having US soldier potentially die in Iraq again while Iraqi politicians bicker would be the height of insanity.[/QUOTE] Even if ISIS is completely destroyed, it's pretty obvious that the Iraqi military is so weak that it'll be impossible for them to maintain control from any other group. And with the annihilation of ISIS comes with the weakening of the state as a whole anyway. There's no way to surgically remove ISIS from the map without devastating economies, infrastructures and local populations, let alone political support for the winning team, the Iraqi government.

[QUOTE=draugur;45294285]Well if the Kurds were in power they could. But the Kurds don't give a fuck if it isn't in their turf.[/QUOTE] They live? [IMG]http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/Cheese_5_gallons/26_finish_curd_cutting_P3120290.jpg[/IMG]

Can we just let the middle east blow themselves up. Like for real, we don't need to get involved. If they wanna come over here and fight us fine then we can fight theres no reason right now.

[QUOTE=Pikabuu2;45296969]Can we just let the middle east blow themselves up. Like for real, we don't need to get involved. If they wanna come over here and fight us fine then we can fight theres no reason right now.[/QUOTE] We tried that before

When we talk of 'Iraq' we're talking of an entity with essentially no legitimacy beyond the shiite community, taking Iraq back would require either a change of government or beating disaffected Sunni tribes into submission. I'm not sure where the US would fit into that without it being excessive or severely misguided.

[QUOTE=Pikabuu2;45296969]Can we just let the middle east blow themselves up. Like for real, we don't need to get involved. If they wanna come over here and fight us fine then we can fight theres no reason right now.[/QUOTE] Ya ignore the problem that the west created, A+ idea.

[QUOTE=Pikabuu2;45296969]Can we just let the middle east blow themselves up. Like for real, we don't need to get involved. If they wanna come over here and fight us fine then we can fight theres no reason right now.[/QUOTE] That might work if beating them made them stop after their first attempt, but the reality is that no matter how many times they're forced to retreat from whatever country they were bothering, they'd come back eventually. Maybe not for the United States, but for many other stable countries it'd be pretty much guaranteed to happen eventually.

Their petty religious politics aren't worth saving them because no matter what we do, they'll just revert back to their old ways. Maybe if humans are still around in 200-300 years, we'll try again.

The US should never have pulled out of Iraq, honestly when you make a mess you should stay until you've cleaned it up.

[QUOTE=carcarcargo;45297385]The US should never have pulled out of Iraq, honestly when you make a mess you should stay until you've cleaned it up.[/QUOTE] We should have never gone there to begin with.

[QUOTE=carcarcargo;45297385]The US should never have pulled out of Iraq, honestly when you make a mess you should stay until you've cleaned it up.[/QUOTE] It was the Iraqi government that didnt want us there. We had plans to keep some 9,500 men there.

[QUOTE=LoganIsAwesome;45297467]It was the Iraqi government that didnt want us there. We had plans to keep some 9,500 men there.[/QUOTE] And thank goodness we pulled them out too. I pretty much lost all hope for Iraq. Baghdad will fall and the Islamic State will take over.

[QUOTE=Grimhound;45294009]Could infect the ISIS forces with ebola and claim it was brought over by African mercenaries. Though that would be more CIA than military. I'm not endorsing it. I'm just pointing out that they can do much better. It's just that things like ethics and sanity hold them back.[/QUOTE] CIA? Ethics? ayy lmao

[QUOTE=SpaceGhost;45297162]Ya ignore the problem that the west created, A+ idea.[/QUOTE] The sunni/shia conflict has been going on basically since Islam was founded. We may be responsible for this specific group causing trouble because we put a shia group in power, but we definitely didn't create this thing.

[QUOTE=SpaceGhost;45297162]Ya ignore the problem that the west created, A+ idea.[/QUOTE] Yes the west went back in time to around 600 AD and made these two groups hate each other. Jesus Christ, I had no idea the NSA/CIA/FBI had a time machine like that.

[QUOTE=Grimhound;45294009]Could infect the ISIS forces with ebola and claim it was brought over by African mercenaries. Though that would be more CIA than military. I'm not endorsing it. I'm just pointing out that they can do much better. It's just that things like ethics and sanity hold them back.[/QUOTE] I honestly don't think ISIS has any kind of top notch health care or even hygiene standards. Doesn't have to be ebola. Could be some less lethal/infectious/dangerous virus that a normal population could handle but a field conditioned militia couldn't. Then again I really don't know in what conditions ISIS operates.

[QUOTE=SpaceGhost;45297162]Ya ignore the problem that the west created, A+ idea.[/QUOTE] It would be better than making it worse