Vice on HBO

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

Vice is a documentary style news show on HBO. I've watched a few episodes and thought it was pretty good. Be forewarned, it is probably too "liberal" for some, but you should probably check it out and decide for yourself. Couple of weekends ago, I turned on the TV and an episode about fighting ISIS was on so I watched it. I thought this episode did a really good job of explaining just how much of a goat rope the situation has devolved into and the history of how we arrived at this goat rope.

http://www.hbo.com/vice/episodes/vice-special-report-fighting-isis/03-vice-special-report-fighting-isis/index.html

Unfortunately, that is just a summary and not the actual episode. If you subscribe to HBO you can watch the full episode on HBO GO. Disclosure: I have nothing to declare regarding any business relationship with HBO GO and I don't receive any kickbacks.

For me the most interesting part of the episode involved an interview with Ryan Crocker, a career ambassador with the US Foreign Service. Crocker stated the current situation in Iraq turned out worse than his worst nightmare before we invaded Iraq in 2003. Near the end of the episode, the interviewer asked him (paraphrasing), 'What do you say to the people who say we should just let them kill each other?' Crocker answered (paraphrasing again), 'If we aren't involved it could be worse.'

WTF?

It could be worse? It is worse than your worst nightmare. IOT be worse it would have to be more worse than . . . worse than your worst nightmare. That's two levels of worse above and beyond worst compared to just one level. At what point of worse or worst, do you realize we are making it worse and it is time to reevaluate? He still thinks we can control the outcome. We installed a government in Iran, it's worse. We installed a government in Iraq, it's worse. We installed a government in Afghanistan, it is arguable worse. We trained and funded the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan to defeat the Russians and it is definitely worse.

[*michaelsean*]

Hey can we move this liberal paid for ad to the TV forum where it belongs?

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(03-07-2016, 11:38 AM)michaelsean Wrote: Hey can we move this liberal paid for ad to the TV forum where it belongs?

LOL

[fredtoast]

I'd like to check this out, but I'll have to wait until it is available someplace other than HBO.

It is hard to find anything really balanced about the middle east. Fareed Zakaria did a special on the Iraq invasion a while back. He did a decent job of presenting both sides. Zakaria actually supported the invasion back when it happened, but he freely admits that the entire operation was botched.