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Message
Aid to help trapped Iraqis would be a political slam dunk for Obama.
Posted on 8/7/14 at 12:00 pm
Posted on 8/7/14 at 12:00 pm
quote:
President Obama is considering airstrikes or airdrops of food and medicine to address a humanitarian crisis among as many as 40,000 religious minorities in Iraq who have been dying of heat and thirst on a mountaintop after death threats from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, administration officials said on Thursday.
The president, in meetings with his national security team at the White House on Thursday morning, has been weighing a series of options ranging from dropping humanitarian supplies on Mount Sinjar to military strikes on the fighters from ISIS now at the base of the mountain, a senior administration official said.
I know I'm not privy to all the internal information but this seems like a really easy decision. These kind of deliberations remind me of Kathleen Committee Blanco's decision making style.
Anyway, helping these Yazidi Kurds out seem like a political foreign policy slam dunk to me (and the right thing to do). Obama could possibly gain 10-15 points in his poll numbers with this kind of humanitarian action.
ETA: oops, forgot the LINK
This post was edited on 8/7/14 at 12:10 pm
5
Posted on 8/7/14 at 12:11 pm to GumboPot
As much as I'd love for Obama to go all in for Kurdistan, I doubt he does it. It would really harm a lot of relationships in the ME.
Posted on 8/7/14 at 12:17 pm to C
A solid, consistent effort on the part of the United States to aid the Kurds and, as impartially as possible, mediate in Israel and Gaza (which they seem to be doing fairly well) will give him a solid bump in approval. Add to that that the pull out in Afghanistan is only getting closer and that domestic issues aren't really in the news right now and his approval numbers could fairly quickly jump back to around 44-46%.
Posted on 8/7/14 at 12:17 pm to C
quote:
It would really harm a lot of relationships in the ME.
Really? Why is that?
Posted on 8/7/14 at 12:20 pm to GumboPot
Iran and Saudi hate the kurds. No one wants to see the kurds as independent nation. Kurds are in parts of Syria, turkey and Iran. Turkey may be favorable just to provide a trading, stable partner on their border but I think that's luke warm at best. Maybe I'm wrong though.
Posted on 8/7/14 at 12:21 pm to GumboPot
Let me see if I understand this.
Giving humanitarian aid to a bunch of civilians who are being starved to death requires a political debate?
Well at least is isn't American diplomats that are being killed.
Now on to the next fund raiser.
Giving humanitarian aid to a bunch of civilians who are being starved to death requires a political debate?
Well at least is isn't American diplomats that are being killed.
Now on to the next fund raiser.
Posted on 8/7/14 at 12:45 pm to GumboPot
I've been watching all the ISIS videos on Liveleak and those guys are like sitting ducks driving around in their 1980's Toyotas. The drones would be able to pick those off in no time....and destroy their artillery as well.
As for helping himself, couldn't one argue that he bailed on them in the first place only to have to come back because of our shitty intelligence?
As for helping himself, couldn't one argue that he bailed on them in the first place only to have to come back because of our shitty intelligence?
Posted on 8/7/14 at 1:18 pm to GumboPot
Slam dunk
-c rice
-c rice
Posted on 8/7/14 at 1:26 pm to C
quote:
Iran and Saudi hate the kurds. No one wants to see the kurds as independent nation. Kurds are in parts of Syria, turkey and Iran. Turkey may be favorable just to provide a trading, stable partner on their border but I think that's luke warm at best. Maybe I'm wrong though.
Iran: Who gives a damn what they think.
Saudi Arabia: Kurdistan wouldn't be anywhere near them, I don't see how they have a stake in this.
Turkey: Turkey has warmed up considerably to the idea of an independent Kurdish state, since the people in Iraqi Kurdistan have worked with them on a number of projects.
We ought to line up along the side of the Turks and support an independent Kurdistan, to create a solid ally and to try and pry something good out of the disintegrating mess in Iraq. So long as the Kurds promise to protect religious minorities and refugees, which I think they would.
As for Obama, it is a no-brainer, but the man is so reluctant to involve himself in anything that I'd be mildly surprise if he actually does something.
Posted on 8/7/14 at 1:28 pm to maine82
By the way, the Kurds in Iraq have been planning an independence vote for a while. That may be postponed due to current events, but I suspect if the Saudis had any opposition before, they have probably now reconciled themselves to the fact that an independent Kurdistan may emerge.
Posted on 8/7/14 at 1:34 pm to GumboPot
quote:
President Obama is considering airstrikes or airdrops of food and medicine to address a humanitarian crisis among as many as 40,000 religious minorities in Iraq who have been dying of heat and thirst on a mountaintop after death threats from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, administration officials said on Thursday.
Book it, if they are Christian...they can't count on Obama. Might make the Muslims mad, and create more terrorists.
I'll be glad when we get a decent leader back at the helm.
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