ISIS

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[HAL]

Not many people say both.

[David]

[Jezza]

[Jezza]

[David]

Thanks Jezza. Yep, a cursory look at a map should dispel any fantasies of ISIS and the Taliban 'wiping each other out'. There's a big Iran-shaped roadblock separating them, and the Iranians hate both of them. The Taliban doesn't really have much in the way of expansionist ambitions anyway, so any fighting between the two groups will be limited to the small region of Afghanistan in which they're situated.

[Jezza]

No worries David and yes you're right about the fact that the Taliban has no apparent expansionist ambitions which is clearly evident in groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda (on a smaller scale). I have a feeling the conflict between ISIS and the Taliban originated from the schism between ISIS and Al-Qaeda which officially came to a total split last year and obviously the Taliban considers Al-Qaeda an ally in contrast to ISIS who are too barbaric and crazy for their liking

There's no chance that ISIS or the Taliban would seize Iran! NO CHANCE whatsoever because they'll be literally obliterated in a number of days or weeks for that matter.

I know that it's Wikipedia but as a general starting point I thought it was interesting reading about the current war in Afghanistan that commenced this year after the US' decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Afghanistan_(2015�present)

[David]

This is one of the reasons why I've always been sceptical of our government's rhetoric about ISIS being an "existential threat" to us. If they have zero chance of defeating Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel, and are currently fighting a draw against a small ethnic minority that have never even been able to establish their own state, how much of a threat are they to the rest of the world, exactly? Their successes so far involve 1) capitalising on one of the most brutal civil wars of the new millennium by establishing a base in Syria, and 2) crossing over the border into a shell of a state blown to pieces by the US and its allies. What are they going to do when they reach the borders of a real country?

[ronrat]

The sending of troops may well have a domestic agenda. Sooner or later some dunderhead is going to get himself in a whole world of shit. Quite possibly some middle class kid from the suburbs with no friends whose reality was the internet. Then his Dad, who works for a big company and his Mum who works part time at the Church op shop is going to walk into a radio station and say my son is a good boy, but lost his way and now the Government won't help him. He was with the ISIS but only cooked for them or swept the camp. Then the Iranians captured him. He is scared and frightened.
Why won't the Government
a. pay the 2 million ransom (because we want to keep our 1.8 million balwyn home)
b.Deploy a 100 SASR and get him out
C. Forget the facebook page of him with a knife and a severed head
D. All of the above

The Government simply says. "We are committed to our own ADF who have broken no law, have acted with humanity and are not cowards.We do not deal with terrorists.

The media won't side with any of them because to turn on the ADF is a commercial form of suicide.

It will also send a message to the home grown bozos here. We are not going to fight goat herders but trained killers.

It also helps our sheep and wheat farmers out if we continue to trade in the middle east.

Maybe it is the cynic in me.

[HAL]

Why not?

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