# Obama's Speech About ISIL Tonight (9-10-14) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 10, 2014, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065 "2014-09-10T13:42:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/61 "2014-09-11T01:41:24Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Sounds like he’s going to do the right thing, including putting more boots on the ground in Iraq. Not what I understand. [http://www.stripes.com/news/us/obama-s-plan-to-destroy-islamic-state-extremists-1.302396?utm\_source=feedburner&utm\_medium=feed&utm\_campaign=Feed%3A+starsandstripes%2Fgeneral+(Stars+and+Stripes)](http://www.stripes.com/news/us/obama-s-plan-to-destroy-islamic-state-extremists-1.302396?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+starsandstripes%2Fgeneral+%28Stars+and+Stripes%29) > [@](#): > > THE STRATEGY: Obama wants to step up both military and diplomatic efforts to counter the extremists. That means arming Syrian opposition forces and perhaps extending U.S. airstrikes into Syria. (The U.S. already is bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq.) He also wants to provide more support for Iraqi security forces. And he’s pressing for an expanded global coalition of at least 40 nations united against the militants, with Sunni Arab allies and NATO member Turkey playing leading roles. The president is not proposing to send U.S. ground troops into combat. > [@A\_nice\_guy\_with\_an\_opinion](#): > > This was an awesome speech. I am glad he gave it. We need to have a coalition like George Bush. Bush father or Bush the lesser? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/62 "2014-09-11T01:45:52Z")
Also 475 more troops on the ground in Iraq. As well as the airstrikes in Syria that you linked to. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/63 "2014-09-11T01:47:37Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Also 475 more troops on the ground in Iraq. Acting in an advisory, non-combat capacity. ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/64 "2014-09-11T01:49:50Z")
It’s days like these I really miss NFBW - poor fella must be twisted into a pretzel by now. That said, this is a two-day campaign of airstrikes to take us into the weekend with visuals for the networks to back up the speech, then it sinks like the Bismarck before Monday. Drone strikes and such may continue, but there will be no mention of it in the media. Unless something big happens tomorrow, then all bets are off. ---
**Author:** ![A\_nice\_guy\_with\_an\_opinion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@A\_nice\_guy\_with\_an\_opinion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_nice_guy_with_an_opinion)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/65 "2014-09-11T01:52:59Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Not what I understand. > > [http://www.stripes.com/news/us/obama-s-plan-to-destroy-islamic-state-extremists-1.302396?utm\_source=feedburner&utm\_medium=feed&utm\_campaign=Feed%3A+starsandstripes%2Fgeneral+(Stars+and+Stripes)](http://www.stripes.com/news/us/obama-s-plan-to-destroy-islamic-state-extremists-1.302396?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+starsandstripes%2Fgeneral+%28Stars+and+Stripes%29) > > Bush father or Bush the lesser? The two term Kerry and Gore killer. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/66 "2014-09-11T01:53:07Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Acting in an advisory, non-combat capacity. But which as we know from history, can easily be ramped up into full combat participation with no notice. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/67 "2014-09-11T01:59:10Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Not in 2003, but this year. They (the government) solicited our help. When you overthrow a government and install a replacement government, and that replacement asks you to stay on, that’s not what I’d call “inviting you in.” If it is, all we have to do is kill Assad and install a Syrian government favorable to us, and I betcha they’ll invite us in as well. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/68 "2014-09-11T02:05:08Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > When you overthrow a government and install a replacement government, and that replacement asks you to stay on, that’s not what I’d call “inviting you in.” If it is, all we have to do is kill Assad and install a Syrian government favorable to us, and I betcha they’ll invite us in as well. Yeah, that Maliki guy was such a US stooge. First he invited the Iranians in to help fight ISIL, then he invited the Americans! What a doormat for the imperialist running dogs! ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/69 "2014-09-11T02:15:16Z")
> [@A\_nice\_guy\_with\_an\_opinion](#): > > The two term Kerry and Gore killer. 😃 Well, I’m still waiting for all that peace and the spreading of Democracy throughout the Middle East that the Republicans promised was going to be the result for us going to Iraq. Someone has to mop the mess left I guess. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/70 "2014-09-11T02:18:27Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > But which as we know from history, can easily be ramped up into full combat participation with no notice. We know that from a mistake so grievous that it won’t likely be made again as long as the Vietnam Memorial Wall is still standing. That this will NOT be such an escalation was one of the main points of Obama’s speech. ---
**Author:** ![DingoelGringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DingoelGringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DingoelGringo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/71 "2014-09-11T02:19:16Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Reports say that he will also propose arming Syrian rebels to help fight ISIS. > > That I’m not okay with. It’s never gone well. Kill 'em all and let God sort them out.! ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/72 "2014-09-11T02:21:39Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Well, I’m still waiting for all that peace and the spreading of Democracy throughout the Middle East that the Republicans promised was going to be the result for us going to Iraq. > > Someone has to mop the mess left I guess. It was explicitly pointed out on CBC News tonight that ISIS only exists because of the 2003 Bush war. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/73 "2014-09-11T02:22:48Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > We know that from a mistake so grievous that it won’t likely be made again as long as the Vietnam Memorial Wall is still standing. That this will NOT be such an escalation was one of the main points of Obama’s speech. That assumes events beyond his control. We cannot lose, so if we aren’t winning with just air strikes and advisors, then we will be committing combat troops. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/74 "2014-09-11T02:26:58Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Yeah, that Maliki guy was such a US stooge. First he invited the Iranians in to help fight ISIL, then he invited the Americans! What a doormat for the imperialist running dogs! :smack: I think I’m an idiot–despite **John’s** clarification, I still wasn’t parsing what he said as specifically regarding Iraq’s request for US aid vs. ISIS. My apologies, **John!** What you said makes perfect sense in that context. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/75 "2014-09-11T02:46:16Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > That assumes events beyond his control. We cannot lose, so if we aren’t winning with just air strikes and advisors, then we will be committing combat troops. There is certainly always some finite possibility that events may unfold that way. However your statement that such a thing can happen “easily” and “with no notice” seemed to imply that the limited engagement was a mistake, or that it was a ruse for later escalation. It is none of those things, in my view. It seems like a sound strategy against a particularly dangerous adversary. The danger of the Bush war was always that Iraq could destabilize into a terrorist sanctuary where they hold a large amount of territorial control, as al Qaeda did in Afghanistan. This is exactly what’s happened. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/76 "2014-09-11T02:49:24Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > That assumes events beyond his control. We cannot lose, so if we aren’t winning with just air strikes and advisors, then we will be committing combat troops. Thank goodness for the extreme right [careless talk](http://hhgproject.org/entries/carelesstalk.html) that also works for good. As pointed before it causes the fabric of the space-time continuum and carries those words back in time to cause the opposite of what they claim. 🙂 Before this speech the word was that Islamic State was being pushed away from a key dam and from other locations and it was thanks to US air strikes. > **[Syrian Kurdish fighters pushing back Islamic State on their own](https://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-syria-kurds-20140910-story.html)** > > The Kurdish fighter perched on the roof of a schoolhouse pocked with holes from bullets and tank rounds, pointing across a rubble field toward several grain silos blasted open by shell fire. [http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/2014/09/05/The-beginning-of-the-end-for-ISIS.html](http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/2014/09/05/The-beginning-of-the-end-for-ISIS.html) > **[Iraq retakes more towns from Islamic State](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2014/9/1/iraq-retakes-more-towns-from-islamic-state)** > > Kurdish forces and Shia armed volunteers kill at least two senior Islamic State fighters as they make military gains. Where IS is getting more gains now it is Syria and there is still a lot to clear in Iraq, so there is still a lot to go on this but what I see now is that once aerial superiority is used then the local forces have a lot of opportunities to defeat the IS. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/77 "2014-09-11T03:10:45Z")
Correction: I meant to say that: Thank goodness for the extreme right [careless talk](http://hhgproject.org/entries/carelesstalk.html) that also works for good. As pointed before it causes the fabric of the space-time continuum \*\*\*to break and open a freak wormhole \*\*\* that carries those words back in time to cause the opposite of what they claim. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![2ManyTacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/3da27b/32.png) [@2ManyTacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2ManyTacos)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/78 "2014-09-11T03:16:21Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > That assumes events beyond his control. We cannot lose, so if we aren’t winning with just air strikes and advisors, then we will be committing combat troops. I don’t have much to add to this debate beyond asserting my broad opposition. I’m a complete isolationist in the FP arena, so I want the US to stay out of this ISIS quagmire. But I have to get this criticism off my chest that I have about the rightwing zeitgeist: Why, exactly, is it perfectly OK for the US to write a blank check to the military to wage these foreign wars, when, at the same time, it is blasphemy for the US to ever have a universal health care system? Complete stupidity is the answer. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/79 "2014-09-11T03:22:21Z")
The primary job of a government is to protect us from those who would prey on us, not to do for us what we can already do for ourselves. You should Google what happened to Leon Blum, the French PM who focused on “social justice” instead of getting France ready for war. Where was his social justice under occupation? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065/80 "2014-09-11T03:25:12Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Where IS is getting more gains now it is Syria and there is still a lot to clear in Iraq, so there is still a lot to go on this but what I see now is that once aerial superiority is used then the local forces have a lot of opportunities to defeat the IS. Certainly. I’m just pointing out that there’s no guarantee. We will not lose, that’s the only certainty. The question is what we’ll have to do to win. Maybe we’ll get away with just air strikes and advisors. But maybe not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-about-isil-tonight-9-10-14/698065.md?page=5)