ReconRat Posted August 30, 2014 Report Share Posted August 30, 2014 (edited) Interesting qoute from Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah during a meeting with foreign ambassadors in Jeddah: "I ask you to convey this message to your leaders... Terrorism at this time is an evil force that must be fought with wisdom and speed. And if neglected I'm sure after a month it will arrive in Europe and a month after that in America." Without looking it up, I'd say the Saudis have a pretty good track record with military intelligence. A little history here. Israel is currently the 11th most powerful military in the world. But their neighbors are close behind. Taking on one attacker is defensible, but two is questionable and three is risky. Pretty much true of any country. Since ISIS isn't a country and isn't on the world list, I would guess they are currently equal to Jordan in strength, and stronger than Lebanon. With the advantage of a lot of field experience, and unique maneuverability. What ISIS lacks is an air force. What ISIS doesn't need is an air force. Not yet. I get the impression that Hezbollah chose not to fight them, and returned to Lebanon. edit: No, ISIS isn't strong enough yet to enjoin full battle with Saudi Arabia, or even Syria. Not yet. Edited August 30, 2014 by ReconRat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReconRat Posted August 30, 2014 Report Share Posted August 30, 2014 I thought they were going after IS in Syria, pending airstrikes. What exactly is Russia's stance on IS?I don't see anything official. I think they could care less. Found this quote in Pravda: "ISIS (aka ISIL) is often called a powerful and frightening force, but that is almost laughably inaccurate. All estimates of its manpower range from 7 to 15,000 - that is not a lot of soldiers by any standard and no larger than some American street gangs." Probably underestimated. A bit of bravado on Russia's part, seems like that's how Chechnya started out as a local problem for them. A problem that turned into an entire Russian province that considers Russia to be an enemy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-bus Posted August 30, 2014 Report Share Posted August 30, 2014 (edited) If you think Israel is getting taken out by isis, you don't have any idea how much we've built Israel's military.I was eluding to the snowball effect of staying out of the fight and allowing the region to radicalize into a true Islamic State. Isreal has a powerful military, indeed. If Isreal was to be surrounded by unfriendly extremists, it would fall. Not by a group of head-cutting bandits, but by a nation of themEdit: also wasn't just referring to ISIS, but to the entire cluster-fuck we call "The Middle East". Edited September 2, 2014 by C-bus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReconRat Posted September 7, 2014 Report Share Posted September 7, 2014 (edited) Current estimate of Islamic State strength is 30,000 and growing. That would be the equivalent to one corp of two or three divisions of around 10 brigades. If this number is line troops and not support, it's effectiveness would be at least doubled. edit 12sep14 - CIA says 31500 ISIS troops Edited September 12, 2014 by ReconRat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpoppa Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 There is less ISIS than there was yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gixxus Christ! Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 There is less ISIS than there was yesterday.Hoping we can say that daily until isis is a thing of the past. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloodninja420 Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 I don't really follow foreign affairs, so maybe some can clarify this for me... but had Congress voted Yes 1 year ago, we would have been fighting on the side of the people we are bombing this morning, no, and bombing the other people? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpoppa Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 ^^Do you mean Syria or ISIS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloodninja420 Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 Not sure. How much overlap is there between the anti-Assad resistance and ISIS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magley64 Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 Don't you just love arbitrary foreign policy...Also, you can bomb people, and you can bomb buildings, but you aren't bombing an ideology. There may be fewer isis than yesterday, but that doesn't mean they can't recruit as quickly as we can bomb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Butters Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 doesnt matter how quick they recruit, which is why we arent targetting ISIS members specifically. they are targeting infrastructure. sure they can recruit people quickly, but theyre going to have a harder time replacing all the infrastructure/weapons/equipment/etc that were blowing up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpoppa Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 Not sure. How much overlap is there between the anti-Assad resistance and ISIS?Completely separate groups. We are not working with Assad. The US and Assad have a common enemy in ISIS. Assad has multiple enemies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-bus Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 That would suck if we armed a group to fight a common enemy only for them to turn around and use that training and those arms against us. Would never happen though........ 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magley64 Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 That would suck if we armed a group to fight a common enemy only for them to turn around and use that training and those arms against us. Would never happen though........That cannot happen, which is why isis is currently armed with American and Israeli arms. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpoppa Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 Arming others is a terrible idea. Weapons can be captured and political alliances change frequently in that part of the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcat6183 Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Oh goody!! I love these guys; http://www.examiner.com/article/indiana-blacksnakes-and-their-a-10s-taking-the-fight-to-middle-east Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpoppa Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 (edited) nvm Edited September 24, 2014 by Tpoppa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4DAIVI PAI2K5 Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 Oh goody!! I love these guys; http://www.examiner.com/article/indiana-blacksnakes-and-their-a-10s-taking-the-fight-to-middle-eastBoner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-bus Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 So is Jordan going to get bloody over this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Butters Posted February 4, 2015 Report Share Posted February 4, 2015 So is Jordan going to get bloody over this?Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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