ISIS Defeated?

[Dill]

(01-18-2019, 01:20 PM)Au165 Wrote: This is always difficult as you could argue our involvement in Desert Storm is what resulted in America being attacked on 9/11. Ending the cycle sounds good in theory but we have substantial interest in the ME that we won't ever abandon. Osama Bin Laden took offense to our stationing troops in Saudi Arabia for Desert Storm and declared a Jihad on the U.S. . Something like that could happen again tomorrow based on our involvement in ME issues and we could have another terrorist organization born from it, or maybe that has already happened. That group then attacks us domestically or somewhere in the world, then that attack would require a response that again would trigger possibly another generation of terrorists. 

It's a cycle that simply may not have a solution in terms of ME engagement. What you can't do is abandon the ideal that we won't protect allies or innocent people around the world. We can't let dictators slaughter people and be okay with that, which means there will come another time in the future we will once again have to deploy military assets. 

Better said, you could argue that our REMAINING in Saudi Arabia was one trigger for 9/11.  Our support for the Saudi regime, and Mubarak in Egypt, were probably more substantial causes.  These governments suppressed Al Qaeda with US munitions, drove them from their countries, and become central pillars (along with Iraq and Kuwait) of an international economic order extracting value from Gulf countries to the detriment of their populations. That, plus the "pollution" of Arab Muslim culture by Western commercial and lifestyle mores, has always been primary to Al Qaeda's appeal for justice and its own legitimacy in the region.

I think Desert Storm is still a model for successful foreign intervention. That I separate from other bad policy choices, beginning with the overthrow of a democractically elected Mossadegh in Iran and support for dictators like Mubarak, and, worst of all, the invasion of Iraq. 

Rather than just throwing up our hands and saying "we can't ever get it right" and "nothing works," we might take a bit more time understanding the politics and history specific to each of the countries we are dealing with, for once listen to regional experts, and finally side with democracy where the choice actually presents itself--even when that doesn't help our oil companies.