Thursday 9 October 2014

In Iraq, America went all in and ended up with a failed state. In Syria, America took a hands off approach and ended up with the Islamic State. For all our sakes, the USA will have to evolve an approach to the Middle East that walks a middle line between those of a reckless cowboy and a timid coward.

Dear Adam; a Letter from a Syrian to an American Friend
"If it is America’s intention to see Assad deposed, then it won’t have to supply a single bullet to make it happen; there are more than enough of its allies in the region willing to give the Syrian rebels the American-made equipment they need to fight the war as soon as American permission is forthcoming.
But but but. I can already hear the many reasons and excuses on why Obama should tread cautiously. What if American arms ended up in the hands of the bad guys? Well, Nazi Germany captured huge stocks of American weapons from the USSR in WW2. In fact, the British left quite a lot of their equipment at Dunkirk. It’s not like there has never been a precedent.
Unless Obama is contemplating handing out tactical nukes to the Syrian opposition, nothing that falls in the hands of Da’esh can tilt the balance of power more than the recent capture by that group of division after division of American made Iraqi army equipment."

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