The ongoing ISIS massacres

[rah]

No need to suck up. I'm just another peon. But someday I'll make up for having to miss that lunch.

[Sava]

No need to suck up.

(I legitimately like you *GASP)

I'm just another peon. But someday I'll make up for having to miss that lunch.

word

Now that I'm starting to feel better and can stomach the company of other humans, I'd love to see about a poly meet

[Ben Kenobi]

Accusing someone of being you is a concession... a loser surrendering the argument

Interesting conclusion.

[Elok]

C0ckney: We may eventually have to back Assad, because ISIS would appear to be a far more serious concern. However, I think the immediate goal is simply to suppress ISIS and stop the genocide, which can be done. I don't think we can destroy them with airstrikes alone, but they don't strike me as terribly competent at anything other than killing stuff and reciting hadiths, and by all reports the Sunnis in the region only support/tolerate them as an alternative to Shiite rule; the idea of a country where they can be stoned to death for doodling a human face is not actually all that appealing. If they're kept from expanding, how long can they maintain control of their territory?

[DriXnaK]

I agree. Islamaphobia is a serious problem. It seems to be the last somewhat socially acceptable form of racism for *******s like you.

First of all, get the words correct. The one you are looking for is bigot. Islam is not a race. I have never thought of you as someone intelligent, but please at least meet the minimum standard. Islam is a problem around the entire world, that's a fact. To say that Islam is not the problem is the naive stupidity of bleeding heart liberals still living in their parent's basement dealing with mental problems.

[Sava]

You're wrong on the meaning of words in addition to being a dumpster full of garbage opinions.

[DriXnaK]

Race can be used with regard to religion only in the loosest sense. You can pretty much define anything as race then.

[Ben Kenobi]

As opposed to Garbage full of Dumpster opinions?

[Sava]

Race can be used with regard to religion only in the loosest sense. You can pretty much define anything as race then.

Wrong.

Perceived biological differences have always been arbitrary. The social constructs created from those perceived differences are usually rooted in ethnic, religious, nationalistic, and/or economic differences.

I'd teach you more, but I'm not being paid. Start with the wiki entry and work your way from there if you care to not be such a frothing imbecile.

[Kidlicious]

First of all, get the words correct. The one you are looking for is bigot. Islam is not a race. I have never thought of you as someone intelligent, but please at least meet the minimum standard. Islam is a problem around the entire world, that's a fact. To say that Islam is not the problem is the naive stupidity of bleeding heart liberals still living in their parent's basement dealing with mental problems.

There's a lot of them too. I have two young men in my family posting pro-terrorist, anti-US videos. I blame my super liberal sister that preaches tolerance but is anything but tolerant.

[DriXnaK]

Wrong.

Perceived biological differences have always been arbitrary. The social constructs created from those perceived differences are usually rooted in ethnic, religious, nationalistic, and/or economic differences.

I'd teach you more, but I'm not being paid. Start with the wiki entry and work your way from there if you care to not be such a frothing imbecile.

Pro tip: Don't get your information from wikipedia and then openly admit it. I'm not going to get into a game of splitting hairs here over the definition of racism. The fact is that the word "racism" is typically thrown around by the less intellectually inclined to deride anything they're incapable of mounting a defense against. When you make it out of that basement you live in then come talk to me.

[Aeson]

The fact is that the word "racism" is typically thrown around by the less intellectually inclined to deride anything they're incapable of mounting a defense against. When you make it out of that basement you live in then come talk to me.

That's racist

[C0ckney]

C0ckney: We may eventually have to back Assad, because ISIS would appear to be a far more serious concern. However, I think the immediate goal is simply to suppress ISIS and stop the genocide, which can be done. I don't think we can destroy them with airstrikes alone, but they don't strike me as terribly competent at anything other than killing stuff and reciting hadiths, and by all reports the Sunnis in the region only support/tolerate them as an alternative to Shiite rule; the idea of a country where they can be stoned to death for doodling a human face is not actually all that appealing. If they're kept from expanding, how long can they maintain control of their territory?

i'm going to combine my answer with my planned continuation of this post.

now having said all that, it makes it sound - and this view is given by the sensationalist media - as if ISIS were an unbeatable force of military geniuses. this is of course not the case

and in fact much of ISIS's strength is illusory. this becomes apparent when we look at where they've been successful. in syria, which is 3 years into a brutal, multi-sided civil war and iraq which is busy collapsing under the weight of its contradictions, aided by its divisive and incompetent government. if we look at these places though, we can see their weaknesses, namely that whenever they have faced serious resistance, they have been unable to make progress. in syria they've been incapable of making gains against the battered assas regime, apart from mopping up some isolated bases using captured american arms, and it seems that assad's forces have had the better of the recent fighting. in iraq their initial advance (although this must be seen in the context of the existing situation in sunni iraq) was rapid, but once they met stiff resistance the advance ceased.

this is actually a key aspect of ISIS strategy, pick off easy/soft targets and create a feeling of momentum, which then becomes real as people become frightened of/come to respect the power represented by this rapid advance.

We may eventually have to back Assad, because ISIS would appear to be a far more serious concern. However, I think the immediate goal is simply to suppress ISIS and stop the genocide, which can be done.

my argument is that you can't do the second without the first, and the other things i have talked about. people seem to have forgotten about the sectarian conflicts in iraq, which reached their peak in 2006-2007. the underlying issues there were not resolved and that conflict has continued (at varying intensities) ever since. the syrian civil war has further complicated matters.

by all reports the Sunnis in the region only support/tolerate them as an alternative to Shiite rule;

although it's more complicated than that, the fact they are prepared to support ISIS should tell us all we need to know about the future of the iraqi state.

If they're kept from expanding, how long can they maintain control of their territory?

as long as the issues i mentioned remain unresolved, almost indefinitely. if you're looking for a model, see the taliban.

[Ben Kenobi]

Don't get your information from wikipedia and then openly admit it

It's Sava's job to define it and to explain exactly why opposition to Islam qualifies as racism.

By definition - if Sava's arguing that religious faith corresponds to one's core identity, then attacks on Christianity are also racism.

[Hauldren Collider]

Jesus christ Cockney. The situation is incredibly simple:

1. ISIS is possibly the most evil group to threaten Western civilization since the fall of the Soviet Union
2. They're killing lots and lots and lots of people
3. We have the ability to stop them, and if we do so now, at relatively little risk to our own men

Conclusion: We should stop them. End of story. **** off with your **** about how "complicated" the situation is in the middle east. The only relevant facts are the 3 I've listed above. Lives can be saved today. We'll worry about the future when it comes.