The US war against ISIS couldn’t be going much worse. ISIS continues to gain in Iraq, despite soaring US ground deployments into the nation, and the Syria air war has backfired so bad its wiped out most of the US allies, and brought al-Qaeda, once an ISIS rival, into a partnership with them.
The administration has tried alliances, they’ve tried escalations, they’re tried everything. Now, they’ve fallen back to name-calling, with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey mocking ISIS as a “bunch of midgets.”
Dempsey claimed the war was starting to turn in America’s favor, despite all indications to the contrary, though he conceded that the war is still going to take “several years.”
Secretary of State John Kerry was also eager to give the appearance of confidence, however unwarranted, in his own comments, insisting he is “not intimidated” by ISIS and that the US will continue to fight them irrespective of the execution of American hostages.
The desperation to portray ISIS as an unworthy opponent is palpable, and makes some sense in that it would keep people from watching the day-to-day operations of the war too closely. It also gives future officials the opportunity to argue for escalation on the grounds that they “underestimated” the ISIS threat, a card President Obama has already played in his own escalations. Either way, the feigned confidence is bizarre with the war going so badly on so many fronts.
CBS radio news tonight had Kerry claiming the U.S. is "winning the fight against ISIS."
These pronouncements of winning bring back memories of the Vietnam War which the US. soldiers were always winning. And of course we won Iraq wars I and II.
Where did you buy your memories from? My recollection of the Vietnam War was the media forever assuring us the U.S. was losing, particularly in the Tet Offensive, which turned out to be the biggest victory the U.S. ever won, essentially eliminating the Viet Cong as a political force, and then again during the 1972 offensive which also was an unmitigated U.S. victory. True, after the U.S. withdrew the Republic of Vietnam was defeated, but only because Congress completely cut off all of its funding while the Chinese and Russian armed the NVA to the hilt. And the U.S. did win Iraq wars I & II (the Iraqis were totally driven from Kuwait and today 2/3 of Iraq is in the hands of the U.S. allies – before none of it was – how is that NOT a victory?).
Yes, the US "won" every battle in Vietnam and also in Iraq, and they still lost the war. You can't win a war of occupation, the "enemy" lives on the battlefield and just waits for you to go home. You can kill lots of people and destroy lots of places and call that victory, Mepiston. But that doesn't make it a good thing. It's all happening again with the ISIS war.
David, the 60s are calling and they want their ideology back!
Yep, for over a decade they were making "progress"
When are we going to stop pussy-footing around and put 300K troops on the ground with or without allies and wipe these murders out. We cannot drag out another war like Nam and Iraq. Go big or stay home.
How about we just stay home…for a change.
"Retired", do you have any children or grandchildren?
How many of them are you willing to see killed or maimed (physically and/or mentally) to "wipe out the murderers"–that is, to serve the interests of Saudi Arabia, the lesser oil states, and Israel?
IS along with its AQ jihadi soul mates have made it absolutely clear that launching terrorist attacks upon western civilians is high on its to do list. Please take the time to read SOMETHING other than the leftist press about jihadism. This is World War IV. The only proven way of protecting the U.S. is to keep the jihadis scrambling for cover in their own territory so they can't successfully coordinate well enough to attack us.
When are we going to stop *****-footing around and institutionalize people with your penchant for war and violence.
The US and its allies had over a 1.8 million in Vietnam in 1968. What makes you so confident of US supremacy with any number?
Because unlike the Vietnamese communists, IS has no superpower backing and little or no popular support. That's why.
"wipe these murders out"
LOL. And I have been called stoneface for lack of emotion.
It was the same in the days of AQ. US troops boasting about how beefed up they are and so on. I guess it's steroids and protein supplements that makes all the difference. Tell that to Hagel before he starts throwing away trillions on robots and crap.
its funny. Dempsey who is a midget himself calling others as midget!
Well that's Napoleonic complex for you!
Except Napoleon was actually tall for his day and certainly taller than Wellington. The reason people think he was short is because of a British anti-Napoleon caricature which caught on.
There will be nobody to send over to watch the day-by-day operations of the war against ISIS, all of the capable journalists and volunteers have been terrorized by the beheadings. I never understood how ISIS thought cutting the heads off non-combatants would serve their purpose, but as it turns out it keeps eyes on the ground out of the area of operation so the world will never know what is really happening in the war. That´s pretty convenient.
Remarkable how any extremists' prediction of planned devastating attacks upon the west or the establishment of a world wide caliph is reported with an almost reverent solemnity, but even the mildest expression of optimism by a U.S. spokesperson is immediately drowned in a sea of ridicule.
Mepiston, nobody but you is taking seriously "extremists' predictions of devastating attacks." This is all propaganda aimed at increasing our military and security state and fighting to advance Israel's interests.You are lobbying for the cause of state-sanctioned murder..
My sister once had a friend like you David. Her name was Leslie and I had to be careful about drinking milk when she was at our house because she made me laugh so hard it came out my nose!
There are always a few lunatics out there (i.e. "retired") who are happy to have others kill strangers for them just so they can watch. No one is stopping him from heading out there to pull his own triggers at whomever. Don't hold your breath…
As for denigrating the "enemy", the US military hasn't won any wars since WWII. So I suspect false bravado and tough guy boasting is quite common in ranks where stars and bars proliferate.
The US is bankrupting itself in a sad, pathetic effort to rule the planet by force.
Why doesn't the US just leave others alone to stew in the juices of their own making? This is our historic stance, But the strutting generals and their brainless worshippers keep repeating failed strategies just to prove their manhood. By killing others in faraway places. Who are the real "midgets"?
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