Why should Iran get a nuke?

[Kane]

[eynon81]

[Dylan]

[Aaron]

This would have been stamped out or at least not covered by major media long ago if unrest hadn't been useful to a number of parties involved...

[Kane]

[Dylan]

Yeah they're of limited utility in urban combat but they've been very effective at killing lots of combatants and have neutered ISIS's ability to move large groups of combatants rapidly, which is how they took so much territory initially. They didn't have that many experienced combatants or that much gear so they shuttled both around rapidly to take large swathes of territory and make themselves look much more formidable than that. Now any such convoy or grouping is impossible except in densely populated areas (which Tikrit isn't by the way - everybody peaced out to avoid ISIS or avoid the Shias that are going to kick them out).

But we can't support the effort against Tikrit since half the folks fighting on "our" side there would slit every American's throat and happily enjoy some halva right after.

But raining death on assholes from above fundamentally changed the nature of this fight. Ever since then it's been 100% clear that ISIS will lose and lose badly, now it's just a matter of doing the dirty work. I still hope ISIS manages to get some crappy commandeered F-16 or something in the air though. That would be hilarious and I know a lot of American bros who would love to show them what a mistake that was.

[Saz]

Not sure why this whole battle seems to be such a big deal. Guys I went to high school with now run with gangs that could put up a better body count.

[Dylan]

[exploited]

The issue with ISIS is that if you beat them out of holding territory, they'll just revert to insurgency mode, and that's assuming the people who take over aren't basically terrorists themselves and we'll be able to tell the difference. Without substantial Western boots on the ground, this war is unwinnable. The very best outcome is an Assad-controlled Syria, with a more subtle version of the same atrocities, as well as an Iraqi military that can't win without indefinite support.

I have no idea why we are attacking ISIS. Let Iran or Saudi Arabia figure it out, and then side with the winner.

[Saz]