ISIS launches counterattack after US withdrawal announcement

[Stev]

Here's the thing, we've essentially been doing that the whole time, whatever we build just gets abandoned.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/13/us-funded-power-plant-in-afghanistan-is-barely-use/

And again, we went into Iraq, lynched Saddam, and did a japan where we restructured the state, installed a democratic system and left them to hold elections and master their own fate. This new goverment then piddled about for a few years, which we supported and funded with all sorts of aid. However there was then an islamist uprising which overtook the state, with the military essentially abandoning their arms in place, and that uprising is what eventually turned into ISIS.

The problem is we did that. And it didn't work.

And no, rich people will still happily behead people if their theocratic society says so. The sectarian tribalism just make it worse.

[Somepotato]

the most embarrassing part is the US probably could probably have thoroughly mopped up the problem by now,

but congress is so invested in the whole 'war' part that like pharmaceuticals, they refuse to fix (or cure) the problem, but prolong it

[Reg]

So much fucking winning. You criticized Obama for it justifiably but you're doing the same fucking thing.

Republicans need to turn on him.

[PiddlezMcFuzz]

The Marshall Plan worked so well because the population of Europe were willing to move forward and start rebuilding. The war is still happening in Iraq and Syria, and insurgencies still thrive in Afghanistan, and factions continue to rise and fall within their politics meaning that the stability present at the end of WW2 that allowed for peace to happen actually cannot happen in these countries. The wars need to end first, and the insurgencies that arise at the end of conventional conflict need to be pacified in some way that won't lead to their resurgence as a full-fledged rebellion. Unfortunately, that usually means that the governments in power have to make compromises with them, and since these groups are the extreme of all extremists, that isn't really an option. Well, the world could do something about extremism by curtailing the Saudis, who have been known for decades to fund Wahhabism and extremist groups, but since their economic power is so great, that also won't happen anytime soon unless a militarily powerful nation wants to start the cycle all over again in a new country.

Really, unless there is some major revolutionary faction that reforms the politics of the whole region, I doubt that the cycle will ever be fixed, at least through external intervention. Add on top of that the tendency for the region to be a powerhouse of dictatorial governments, though, and this idea then becomes a bit more scary for the modern world.