I was responding to a post that mentioned how guns are getting into France. It is appropriate to respond exactly how that works because it is definitely happening, yet France does not want it to happen.
Not sure how one discusses or comments on how guns get into a country without addressing the mechanisms, which allow such to happen. That is not a gun control comment - that is a factual, process statement of how France (or any other country) cannot stop something it wants to stop and, thus, some are now hoping on the kindness of criminals.
I don’t have serious hopes for the kindness of criminals at all – solely their self-interest, now that they know that their own families could be at risk from indiscriminate attacks on civilians in their countries. It would be nice if the cooperation of the American Mafia (and their Sicilian cousins) with the U.S. military in the invasion of Sicily – cooperation that clearly derived more from self-interest than from patriotism – could be somehow replicated under present circumstances by European arms smugglers, but I don’t really expect it.
And I don’t really expect anything much to change – including from military action – as long as Isis has access to a virtually unlimited flow of money from its supporters in Saudi Arabia and the emirates, as well as from the economic resources (oil, etc.) that it has captured. Those countries may theoretically be our friends, but I don’t think they’ll ever stop providing support to Isis or other radical Sunni Islamists (never mind opposing them in any real way), because that would be seen as supporting Iran and Assad.
A renewed and prolonged war will increase the need for oil and all oil producing or controlling countries in that region will benefit including Russia.
Top that off with the billions that changed hands with the promise of "rebuilding " the war torn areas and it is easy to see why many with their own self interest would benefit from a renewed war.
I do not know what the answer is but I do believe that targeting Isis with smart technology to keep their numbers small and to keep them moving and off balance is needed.
Certainly we should be able to hire every computer whiz kid we can to disrupt Isis ability to use the Internet for communication and recruitment. Isis also enjoys their headlines. We need to hamper their ability to watch the results of their terrorism.
The United States need a strong plan to be in place throughout the 2016-2017 election and presidential turnover when we are most vulnerable in our ability to react to chaos.
"1. The theatre was targeted, I’m sure, because it was believed to be Jewish-owned. That speaks to the hideous bigotry behind this, let alone the “political” carnage of war against the West. "
The location of the Jewish quarter in Paris is no great secret. They could have targeted that, but they didn’t. I think it’s quite a stretch to suggest this obscure theater was targeted because it was Jewish-owned in the past.
Thanks!
So: bomb oil fields, put pressure on Erdogan and his cronies + on Saudi Arabia + Gulf States, target recruitment camps. Today I learned that most planes/drones flew over ISIS terroritory but didn’t actually take any action, they’re just there as scouts gathering intel.
of course, Erdogan is an important NATO ally. And Saudi Arabia is a key U.S. ally.
You can target their camps, but they are basically dumps of dirt with some huts. You have to kill the people, like the guy who teaches the people at the camp how to make bombs.
But killing individuals is basically playing whack a mole and is not really a strategic effort.
There are also other things on the finance side that you can do, through the Treasury Department and Commerce Department in terms of targeting companies that are providing support (‘front’ companies, or otherwise).
It will take a huge effort by many sectors in many countries… and frankly, I’m not sure that everyone that would need to help would be willing.
I agree with the Esquire article, @DonnaL. But the Saudis won’t do anything. Most of the 9/11 terrorists were Saudi nationals, lest we forget. What did the Saudis do after 9/11? Nothing. There’s a lot that the Saudi monarchy does that helps create jihadist terrorists.
Saudi Arabia is our enemy. We only play pretend friends w them because the American way of life depends on continued foreign oil supply. When domestic shale oil threatened Saudi Arabia’s oil-addiction kingpin pusher role, the Saudis crippled the US domestic oil industry by undercutting prices to shore up Saudi market share.
Don’t even get me started on Saudi human rights violations…
The U.S. policy is not that we play nice with the Saudis because we need their oil. We play nice with the Saudis because our Western allies need Saudi oil. We’ve got our own sources.
I think we also make nice with the Saudis because as repulsive as the ruling family of Saudi Arabia (and the rulers of the emirates) may be, if they were ever overthrown the alternative – an Isis-like entity in direct control of all those resources – would be far worse. It isn’t as if a Western-style democracy with representation for all the (essentially) slave laborers from the Philippines and Bangladesh and other impoverished countries is ever going to happen.
^You can remove “(essentially)”, since people who have no freedom of movement, must work till death if asked, and are not paid, are slaves if not in name (because the name would offend Western sensibilities, but seem fine with the un named practice). Look at how many HUNDREDS of people have been worked to death to build the World Cup stadiums in Qatar.
All we can do with the Saudis is apply pressure when they push the limits (like with the young protester’s crucifixion, or the British grandfather who spent a year in jail for having a bottle of wine, and was supposed to be lashed on top of it) + restrict capital or individual movements that are known to help terrorists.
Author Zoe Ferraris’ books are excellent, because one of the main characters is a devout Muslim who believes in Saudi laws - for instance, the mere idea of eating with a woman in a restaurant makes him deeply uneasy- so we see things from his point of view. It’s well-researched and probably “lived”.
Totally expected since they were bombed last night. Each side is going to escalate. We can expect more attacks, of course.
However, the difference between powerful countries like the US and France, and a powerful-wannabe like ISIS, is that their means are more limited. We can send drones, and planes, and use technology to track and watch suspicious activity and place people on house arrest. They can activate their suicide bombers. Not the same scale. It’s scary but at the same time, it isn’t. It’s too random. It’s more certain I won’t be killed in a bombing, than I will. Anyone can be struck at any time, therefore most people will never be struck, ever. To me this really feels like the 80s nuclear threat. It’s there. It won’t stop how I live my life.
(Just as Z for Zachariah was a good novel of its times, The Fifth Wave is a good novel for our times. My take-away from that horror is that the horror will be compounded if we turn against each other and start suspecting every person as a radical. Note that the orders are to avoid detection, so, to shave their beard, drink alcohol, go out to nightclubs, “act like the heathens”. In short, anyone can be a terrorist, just like in the 50s “he could be a communist”. Let us not fall into hysteria about that. I really worry about that, especially since the presidential campaign has started and terrorism is a hot-button issue that’s easy to manipulate.)
At the same time, at the government-level and through international cooperation, things can be done to reduce the threat.
How about youtube and facebook FINALLY cooperate and accept to close accounts that incite youth to kill or join Daesh?
To the best of my knowledge, freedom of speech doesn’t apply when it comes to inciting violence/murder/hate. Time for these two giants to step up. (So far they’ve refused to do anything about it.)
Sure, it’ll be whack-a-mole, but surely our hackers and computer geniuses are more numerous than theirs, at worst it’ll still slow things down and at some point, if they’re in a hurry, they’ll make a mistake that allows us to locate them, or catch something. FB and YT both have enough profit to invest some in this.
