Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Just In Case You Haven't Figured Out How Dangerous and Senseless Our Air War on ISIS Really Is.

For your reading pleasure and edification, we have links.

From the Georgia Straight, Gwynne Dyer explains why terrorism is overblown and why ISIS wants needs Stephen Harper to do exactly what he's so intent on doing.

From CounterPunch, Tufts University professor, Garry Leupp, on the senseless risks we run getting dragged into what's really a Sunni versus Shiite Holy War.

At The Week, Kevin B. Sullivan asks what is Saudi Arabia really up to in Yemen.
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7 comments:

  1. Toby11:33 AM, March 31, 2015

    It seems that the only Western leader taking ISIS seriously is Stephen Harper because he can make political hay out of it.

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  2. Anyong3:12 PM, March 31, 2015

    "He can make political hay out of it"....Are the Canadian people that......they can't read between the lines? Maybe Canadians like Harper after all.

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  3. Anonymous5:50 PM, March 31, 2015

    Anyong:
    My theory of governing is very simple; 1/3 of folks (everywhere) is to stupid to notice, 1/3 of folks does not care and the rest cannot easily change status quo.
    A..non

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  4. The Mound of Sound8:22 AM, April 01, 2015

    I think it's partly the function of warfare in the 21st century. We've stopped fighting peer-on-peer conflicts because nobody's population would tolerate reading a half page casualty list in the morning papers.

    I don't know any of the pilots flying out of Kuwait and I don't know anyone else who does. Remind me how many pilots we have lost in Kosovo, Desert Storm, Libya and this current business. I'm thinking "nil". That shapes public attitudes.

    We lost about 150-soldiers in Afghanistan but that was over nearly a decade. In WWII that would have been considered just a bad night for Canada's Bomber Command. Back then war meant something much different. You knew names of young guys from your little town who were mangled or never coming home. You probably had a brother or cousin serving in combat. It was personal.

    In previous wars we were fighting for something. Now we're just pulling a shift - 6 mos., a year, whatever. This time our goal is to "degrade" ISIS. Talk about setting the bar so low it becomes meaningless.

    And, of course, we ensure our people never have to see the dead - especially the collaterals, the civilians - on the receiving ends of our bombs.

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  5. Purple library guy12:37 PM, April 01, 2015

    Lucky thing my political goal isn't to "degrade" the Conservatives. I mean, how much further could you go than they already have?

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  6. Anonymous10:21 AM, April 02, 2015

    We are doomed ;-(
    A..non

    http://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2015/apr/02/democracy-psychology-idiots-election#img-2

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  7. Anyong11:00 AM, April 02, 2015

    So these countries that are at war with each other over religious beliefs, and where we have given them an excuse to drop a bomb on Canada wouldn't do it?

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