Saturday, May 21, 2016

Retired U.S. General Odierno Says Islamic State Was Avoidable



WNU Editor: Here is an easy prediction .... this debate is going to go on for a long time.
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1 comment:

B.Poster said...

I tend to agree that it was "avoidable." The governments of Iran, Iraq, the European Union nations, the Middle Eastern nations, Russia, and the United States all could have made different decisions going back until at least the mid 1990s. This may have made a difference.

There is nothing the United States could have done individually to prevent the rise of ISIS. Maybe working in concert with other nations perhaps it could have been avoided.

Furthermore I tend to agree the debate will continue even though it is a complete waste of time at this point. The debate that needs to be had is how are we going to defeat it and not finger pointing at how we got here.

At this point, any such finger pointing will not only not help but would have negative utility as it would lkkely only focus on America. America doesn't have the power to stop ISIS by itself nor did it have the power to prevent it's rise and as a non Middle Eastern country with only limited influence and lackkng any governments there who would do its bidding even if had something conatructive to offer in delaying the tise of or preventing the rise of ISIS the only difference America might have made would have been at the margins. As such, there's nothing America could have done on it's own to avoid the rise of ISIS or to stop it.

A better question might be should the rise of ISIS have been "predictable" as opposed to "unavoidable." When ISIS arose, it captured and held territory faster and more efficiently than the US military ever could have even before it was worn down from all the ridiculous operations it's been involved in over the last 14+ years.

Frankly I'm not sure how anyone could have predicted this. Had the Iraqi government predicted this they likely would have begged and pleaded with the United States to keep a military presence in the country after 2010. Even still they didn't do so or so it seems. While the US would have refused such pleas, it'd be a matter of public rdcord I think.

With the troop levels being bandied about by various pundits for a "residual force" it's unlikely it would have been enough to stop the rise of ISIS or evdn slowed it down. Perhaps it's a blessing those men and women were not there as they'd have simply been slaughtered by ISIS fighters!!

So was it avoidable? Probably not at the time ISIS arose. Maybe if different decisions were made over a number of years by a number of different parties maybe it could have. In other words, there's nothing America could have done on it's own to avoid the rise of ISIS or prevent it.


Could it have bedn predicted? This will be vitally important for the future. The answer is probably not. Goven the speed and efficiency these forces showed, trying to predict this would be a bit like trying to prddict where and when the next hurricane, earthquake, or asteroid will strike. This can't be done at present. We can respond to them. This is the same with ISIS. How do we respond? In other words, how do we defeat ISIS?

While I will listen to the linked video, I auspect it will be a waste of time as it will likely only contain the usual useless tripe that tupically emanates from America's leadership.

May 21, 2016 at 5:50 PM

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