The OIL!

[ChrisL]

I really wouldn't put anything past ISIS. I think that certain extremist groups hate the idea that they have to deal with the rest of the modern world, and would just like isolate themselves. They hate us, and they hate our way of life.

Exactly. That's what the Taliban did, after all.

You might find this interesting. Some of it is pretty obvious stuff, but still interesting.

Four Facts About a Strategy to Defeat ISIS The American Spectator

Good article.

I agree. If Iraq is ever going to work as a country, they are going to have to put together a government capable of appealing to all ethnic groups.

If that doesn't work, they might frankly be better off just splitting up into three smaller countries; one Kurdish, one Shia, and one Sunni.

They should just have a secular government that doesn't favor anyone, but I don't think that would go over well either. I think that, even if they did split into separate territories, they would still be fighting about something.

That's why it's tempting to want to just go there and take over and say, screw all of you children! Lol!

They can't have a secular government. Go look at their US written constitution and search out what it says about Islam.

Did you every respond to my scenario about how you'd feel being forced to marry your male cousin? That's the equivalent of your proposal to reform those cultures. They're tribal. They haven't had the many centuries of influence we've had in having our culture shaped by the Catholics in Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire. The cultural divergence goes back even further in history than that.

We should have written the rules. This is what happens when you let children run things. They turn into disasters.

The Coalition Provisional Authority selected every member who sat on the Iraqi Governing Council, who wrote the constitution.

You may as well put out of your imagination an outcome where we impose Western values and principles on any nation in that region. It never works.

Heck, white people in America have been trying for a hundred years to turn black people into dark skinned white people and blacks aren't buying into that, they still retain a distinctive culture.

Then, we should keep them ALL of them out of our country and isolate them. We should completely wash our hands of the entire region. I think those are the only two options when it comes to dealing with these nut jobs. Either take over completely or abandon them completely. No more aid, boycott their oil supplies, etc.

 

[Rikurzhen]

I really wouldn't put anything past ISIS. I think that certain extremist groups hate the idea that they have to deal with the rest of the modern world, and would just like isolate themselves. They hate us, and they hate our way of life.

Exactly. That's what the Taliban did, after all.

You might find this interesting. Some of it is pretty obvious stuff, but still interesting.

Four Facts About a Strategy to Defeat ISIS The American Spectator

Good article.

I agree. If Iraq is ever going to work as a country, they are going to have to put together a government capable of appealing to all ethnic groups.

If that doesn't work, they might frankly be better off just splitting up into three smaller countries; one Kurdish, one Shia, and one Sunni.

They should just have a secular government that doesn't favor anyone, but I don't think that would go over well either. I think that, even if they did split into separate territories, they would still be fighting about something.

That's why it's tempting to want to just go there and take over and say, screw all of you children! Lol!

They can't have a secular government. Go look at their US written constitution and search out what it says about Islam.

Did you every respond to my scenario about how you'd feel being forced to marry your male cousin? That's the equivalent of your proposal to reform those cultures. They're tribal. They haven't had the many centuries of influence we've had in having our culture shaped by the Catholics in Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire. The cultural divergence goes back even further in history than that.

We should have written the rules. This is what happens when you let children run things. They turn into disasters.

The Coalition Provisional Authority selected every member who sat on the Iraqi Governing Council, who wrote the constitution.

You may as well put out of your imagination an outcome where we impose Western values and principles on any nation in that region. It never works.

Heck, white people in America have been trying for a hundred years to turn black people into dark skinned white people and blacks aren't buying into that, they still retain a distinctive culture.

Then, we should keep them ALL of them out of our country and isolate them. We should completely wash our hands of the entire region. I think those are the only two options when it comes to dealing with these nut jobs. Either take over completely or abandon them completely. No more aid, boycott their oil supplies, etc.

There's the third option of Containment. No travel to and fro, no immigration, only business and trade. They run their countries as they see fit and we don't care so long as the oil flows. No Muslims in the West. No Westerners in MENA.

The fourth option is "Rubble Doesn't Cause Trouble." Bomb them into the stone age, don't provide any food aid or medical aid, let them die. If they rebuild and cause trouble for the West again, go back and bomb them back to teh stone age. Rinse and repeat.

Containment is probably the better strategy.

 

[ChrisL]

I really wouldn't put anything past ISIS. I think that certain extremist groups hate the idea that they have to deal with the rest of the modern world, and would just like isolate themselves. They hate us, and they hate our way of life.

Exactly. That's what the Taliban did, after all.

You might find this interesting. Some of it is pretty obvious stuff, but still interesting.

Four Facts About a Strategy to Defeat ISIS The American Spectator

Good article.

I agree. If Iraq is ever going to work as a country, they are going to have to put together a government capable of appealing to all ethnic groups.

If that doesn't work, they might frankly be better off just splitting up into three smaller countries; one Kurdish, one Shia, and one Sunni.

They should just have a secular government that doesn't favor anyone, but I don't think that would go over well either. I think that, even if they did split into separate territories, they would still be fighting about something.

That's why it's tempting to want to just go there and take over and say, screw all of you children! Lol!

They can't have a secular government. Go look at their US written constitution and search out what it says about Islam.

Did you every respond to my scenario about how you'd feel being forced to marry your male cousin? That's the equivalent of your proposal to reform those cultures. They're tribal. They haven't had the many centuries of influence we've had in having our culture shaped by the Catholics in Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire. The cultural divergence goes back even further in history than that.

We should have written the rules. This is what happens when you let children run things. They turn into disasters.

The Coalition Provisional Authority selected every member who sat on the Iraqi Governing Council, who wrote the constitution.

You may as well put out of your imagination an outcome where we impose Western values and principles on any nation in that region. It never works.

Heck, white people in America have been trying for a hundred years to turn black people into dark skinned white people and blacks aren't buying into that, they still retain a distinctive culture.

Then, we should keep them ALL of them out of our country and isolate them. We should completely wash our hands of the entire region. I think those are the only two options when it comes to dealing with these nut jobs. Either take over completely or abandon them completely. No more aid, boycott their oil supplies, etc.

There's the third option of Containment. No travel to and fro, no immigration, only business and trade. They run their countries as they see fit and we don't care so long as the oil flows. No Muslims in the West. No Westerners in MENA.

The fourth option is "Rubble Doesn't Cause Trouble." Bomb them into the stone age, don't provide any food aid or medical aid, let them die. If they rebuild and cause trouble for the West again, go back and bomb them back to teh stone age. Rinse and repeat.

Containment is probably the better strategy.

That could work, but then again they could become like Iran or North Korea.

 

[Rikurzhen]

I really wouldn't put anything past ISIS. I think that certain extremist groups hate the idea that they have to deal with the rest of the modern world, and would just like isolate themselves. They hate us, and they hate our way of life.

Exactly. That's what the Taliban did, after all.

You might find this interesting. Some of it is pretty obvious stuff, but still interesting.

Four Facts About a Strategy to Defeat ISIS The American Spectator

Good article.

I agree. If Iraq is ever going to work as a country, they are going to have to put together a government capable of appealing to all ethnic groups.

If that doesn't work, they might frankly be better off just splitting up into three smaller countries; one Kurdish, one Shia, and one Sunni.

They should just have a secular government that doesn't favor anyone, but I don't think that would go over well either. I think that, even if they did split into separate territories, they would still be fighting about something.

That's why it's tempting to want to just go there and take over and say, screw all of you children! Lol!

They can't have a secular government. Go look at their US written constitution and search out what it says about Islam.

Did you every respond to my scenario about how you'd feel being forced to marry your male cousin? That's the equivalent of your proposal to reform those cultures. They're tribal. They haven't had the many centuries of influence we've had in having our culture shaped by the Catholics in Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire. The cultural divergence goes back even further in history than that.

We should have written the rules. This is what happens when you let children run things. They turn into disasters.

The Coalition Provisional Authority selected every member who sat on the Iraqi Governing Council, who wrote the constitution.

You may as well put out of your imagination an outcome where we impose Western values and principles on any nation in that region. It never works.

Heck, white people in America have been trying for a hundred years to turn black people into dark skinned white people and blacks aren't buying into that, they still retain a distinctive culture.

Then, we should keep them ALL of them out of our country and isolate them. We should completely wash our hands of the entire region. I think those are the only two options when it comes to dealing with these nut jobs. Either take over completely or abandon them completely. No more aid, boycott their oil supplies, etc.

There's the third option of Containment. No travel to and fro, no immigration, only business and trade. They run their countries as they see fit and we don't care so long as the oil flows. No Muslims in the West. No Westerners in MENA.

The fourth option is "Rubble Doesn't Cause Trouble." Bomb them into the stone age, don't provide any food aid or medical aid, let them die. If they rebuild and cause trouble for the West again, go back and bomb them back to teh stone age. Rinse and repeat.

Containment is probably the better strategy.

That could work, but then again they could become like Iran or North Korea.

We really have nothing to fear from either nation. Our relationships with North Korea and Iran are a good model. We don't trade with NK, we don't have any substantive contact at all.

If there was no oil in the Middle East, the entire region and all billion people could fall off the face of the Earth and the rest of us would hardly miss them. Other than buying dates at the grocery store what non-oil products or services do you use in your life which come from the Middle East?

Just contain them. No vacation visit, no family reunions, no immigration, they stay there, we stay here. WE buy their oil, they buy our stuff. Business travel when necessary under tight visa restrictions. That's it.

 

[ChrisL]

We really have nothing to fear from either nation. Our relationships with North Korea and Iran are a good model. We don't trade with NK, we don't have any substantive contact at all.

If there was no oil in the Middle East, the entire region and all billion people could fall off the face of the Earth and the rest of us would hardly miss them. Other than buying dates at the grocery store what non-oil products or services do you use in your life which come from the Middle East?

Just contain them. No vacation visit, no family reunions, no immigration, they stay there, we stay here. WE buy their oil, they buy our stuff. Business travel when necessary under tight visa restrictions. That's it.

That sounds good to me. I'm sure other countries and the UN would tell us how terrible we are, but who cares? Not me!

 

[boedicca]

I think we should triple down on developing our domestic sources of fossil fuels so that we become a net exporter and don't fund terrorists with petrol dollars.

 

[Sgt_Gath]

I think we should triple down on developing our domestic sources of fossil fuels so that we become a net exporter and don't fund terrorists with petrol dollars.

Nuclear, so we can start weaning ourselves off oil entirely.

 

[ChrisL]

I think we should triple down on developing our domestic sources of fossil fuels so that we become a net exporter and don't fund terrorists with petrol dollars.

Nuclear, so we start weaning ourselves off the oil entirely.

Yes, but the hippies are afraid of nuclear.

 

[Rikurzhen]

I think we should triple down on developing our domestic sources of fossil fuels so that we become a net exporter and don't fund terrorists with petrol dollars.

Nuclear, so we can start weaning ourselves off oil entirely.

Then you have to deal with this powerful Liberal voting bloc.

 

[Rikurzhen]

I think we should triple down on developing our domestic sources of fossil fuels so that we become a net exporter and don't fund terrorists with petrol dollars.

Nuclear, so we start weaning ourselves off the oil entirely.

Yes, but the hippies are afraid of nuclear.

Welome to the Dark Side.

 

[Flopper]

Should we go after the oil, or at least take temporary long-term control over the oil fields in such places as Iraq, after fighting a war and claiming victory? I think about what has happened in Iraq, and why did we listen to the new leader of Iraq? I think we should have taken control of the country and the oil, at least on a temporary basis (if not permanent if need be) until they can prove that they are going to behave like adults and be able to control and protect it adequately. What do you say and why?

For those who disagree about just moving in and taking control . . . why? Why do you oppose the US going in and taking over regions of the world (particularly in the ME) where there is a LOT of oil (therefore a lot of opportunity to cause global mayhem) at stake? Thankfully, most of them are just too greedy to cut everyone off, but with the crazy insurgents running around, who knows what could happen.

If the US took over those oil fields, they would become huge targets for every terrorist group in the middle east. In Iraq, oil revenues are rebuilding the country and supporting the military. Without those revenues, the country would collapse and we would inherit a huge problem. No, it's much better if the Iraqi keep the oil. When you take over a country, you take on all the problems and we certainly don't need any more problems out the middle east.

 

[ChrisL]

Should we go after the oil, or at least take temporary long-term control over the oil fields in such places as Iraq, after fighting a war and claiming victory? I think about what has happened in Iraq, and why did we listen to the new leader of Iraq? I think we should have taken control of the country and the oil, at least on a temporary basis (if not permanent if need be) until they can prove that they are going to behave like adults and be able to control and protect it adequately. What do you say and why?

For those who disagree about just moving in and taking control . . . why? Why do you oppose the US going in and taking over regions of the world (particularly in the ME) where there is a LOT of oil (therefore a lot of opportunity to cause global mayhem) at stake? Thankfully, most of them are just too greedy to cut everyone off, but with the crazy insurgents running around, who knows what could happen.

If the US took over those oil fields, they would become huge targets for every terrorist group in the middle east. In Iraq, oil revenues are rebuilding the country and supporting the military. Without those revenues, the country would collapse and we would inherit a huge problem. No, it's much better if the Iraqi keep the oil. When you take over a country, you take on all the problems and we certainly don't need any more problems out the middle east.

I agree. I'd rather have nothing at all to do with that part of the world to be honest.

 

[Sgt_Gath]

I think we should triple down on developing our domestic sources of fossil fuels so that we become a net exporter and don't fund terrorists with petrol dollars.

Nuclear, so we start weaning ourselves off the oil entirely.

Yes, but the hippies are afraid of nuclear.

Welome to the Dark Side.

Maybe we can use the Hippies as reactor coolant or something.

 

[Rikurzhen]

I think we should triple down on developing our domestic sources of fossil fuels so that we become a net exporter and don't fund terrorists with petrol dollars.

Nuclear, so we start weaning ourselves off the oil entirely.

Yes, but the hippies are afraid of nuclear.

Welome to the Dark Side.

Maybe we can use the Hippies as reactor coolant or something.

 

[Flopper]

I also think we should not give aid to another country unless they offer us something GRAND in return. Oh, you want protection from the US? What's in it for US? Lol! Instead of being the world's sugar daddy, we can be the world's Godfather.

174,000,000 barrels of Iraqi oil shipped to the US in 2012.

 

[ChrisL]

I also think we should not give aid to another country unless they offer us something GRAND in return. Oh, you want protection from the US? What's in it for US? Lol! Instead of being the world's sugar daddy, we can be the world's Godfather.

174,000,000 barrels of Iraqi oil shipped to the US in 2012.

Was it free or did we at least get a special discount? Doubtful. They would screw us at any opportunity.