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Which brings up the point.........

If ISIS and their supporters are having a parade.  That means, that probably hundreds (maybe thousands) of fighters and their equipment have gathered.  Yup......civilain supporters are lining the streets to cheer for them.

Would a bombing strike be appropriate at this time?  Or is the bombing strike off limits because an innocent person at home might get injured/killed?

Aloha, Mark

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That is exactly what we are doing in Afghanistan.   How's that working?

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What is the other option? Carpet bomb Kabul? Take out villages with shake and bake arty missions.

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Win what? All that fighting, what is the end state goal? War is an extension of politics through violent means. What is the political desires in Afghanistan that merit military force? Don't try to answer it because two presidents couldn't, not could any of ISAF commanders in Afghanistan. We  spent 14 years fighting a war no one really knows why we're fighting. So it doesn't matter if we tried COIN or fought total war, it would still be a quagmire because we don't even have a goal to strive for.

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At least Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics got a few billion more dollars in their pockets.

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Win what? All that fighting, what is the end state goal? War is an extension of politics through violent means. What is the political desires in Afghanistan that merit military force? Don't try to answer it because two presidents couldn't, not could any of ISAF commanders in Afghanistan. We  spent 14 years fighting a war no one really knows why we're fighting. So it doesn't matter if we tried COIN or fought total war, it would still be a quagmire because we don't even have a goal to strive for.

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That's the million denarii question right there.

I profess that I am ignorant on who it would benefit.

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Those parades in Iraq and Syrian aren't like parades here. They aren't advertised, they don't throw beads to the public. They basically gather up a convoy and drive through the most populace area of a city, honking their horns, firing rifles in air, and taking pics and videos of each other. Most of the people there are just there for the show, they heard and see something interesting so they go. Some cheer too.

Even if you managed to PID all as bad guys we wouldn't even know it happened until everyone went home and ISIS guys download shit on twitter out Facebook. Not enough time to scramble fighter bombers to drop JDAMs on them.

And even then, bombing them would be a PR nightmare, as definitive proof that the US purposely targets civilians. How can we call others terrorist and discuss concepts like justice while we act no differently than them?

The smallest bombs we can drop would still have enough collateral damage to make the intent of the strike neglible. Why kill 100 people, only 30 actual fighters, when it means the families of the survivors have a literal social obligation to take vengeance? Do you think we can win that type of war by creating more enemy? This type of war is not a war of attrition, you can't try to shoehorn this war into WWII or make ISIS controlled territory into NAZI Germany. If anything, the closer description would be Occupied France.

You are treating ISIS as if they are a real nation state actor. They aren't. An easier way to understand not only how they act but how to best stop them are urban gangs in big cities. Would you be cool with leveling Honolulu and killing civilians because a violent street gang moved in and grabbed territory and is terrorizing and intimidating the vast majority of the city? It's not just immoral but counter productive. Attacking that crowd would actually help them, recruiting would improve.

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If I were an old-school, Noam Chomsky-ite Leftist, I'd say it was the Military Industrial Complex.  

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Lol, you wouldn't have a clue what to bomb. And any target you decided on would have 200,000 civilians dead with a few hundred insurgents. Afterwards they'd walk through the leveled streets with cell phones video taping the charred bodies of women and children and that is all the world would see on the BBC, CNN, and Fox News for weeks. The world, including your fellow countrymen, would literally be clamoring for the head of whatever leader was dumb enough to authorize it. World wide support for ISIS  would increase, it would militarize hundreds of thousands of current middle ground Muslims and local areas of the bombings would see record number of recruits all wanting vengeance against the US. You think the patriot act is bad, the major terror retaliation would only be stored by the US turning into a true police state.

Meanwhile you'd scratch your head and wonder why your great plan failed miserably. Because you're ignorant of politics and military strategy and tactics. But don't let your xenophobia interrupt your genocidal fantasies.


Aloha, You're a monster as bad as ISIS

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You forgot your battle cry.................

Allah-Hu-Akbar

I guess you think that 9/11 was justifiable or maybe just a good start?

Aloha, Mark

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I EASd out of USMC in July 2001. I was less than 20 miles away from the WTC when it got hit. You could see the smoke from my house. My mother and sister worked in downtown Manhattan. I knew people in FDNY and NYPD who didn't come out. The day of the attack I went out jogging to start getting back into shape when I would get the letter recalling me from IRR, but it didn't come.

When that didn't happen, I signed up for Nat'l Guard, I was sworn in by Jan 2. I knew this was going to be a long war and wanted to finish college, figured the Guard would allow me to get into the fight while I continued my education, so I could get commissioned and lead platoons and companies or plan operations. I lived and breathed war from 2002 to 2010, that was my sole focus in life, learning everything I could. I devoured every book, every manual, every AAR I could find on Center for Army Lessons Learned. I took classes in school about Middle Eastern history, about Islam, about international relations, the Arab Israeli conflict, the Ottoman Empire and everything else I could. Know thy enemy, they say. I was starting to and was ready to fight the Salafist bastards.

We deployed to Gitmo, I actually saw those people that were responsible for 9/11. But it was a bullshit deployment and I knew they had no desire to deploy our BN to combat. So after I ETS'd from the Guard I finished school and signed up for active Army, still for the infantry, specifically volunteered to go to Iraq. Within 1.5 months of reporting to Ft Lewis I was on a plane to Iraq as a replacement NCO. I went over there, actually fought Al Qaeda in Iraq, 24 whole months by the time my service was done and I was spent in body and mind.

What did you do aloha boy? How did you serve your country during its times of strife?

I am educated, I studied Islam. I know Muslims. I'm 100% sure I know more about that conflict and religion than you and aren't stupid enough to source your argument with some bullshit chain email hate letter that any knowledgeable person knows is utter bullshit.

The best human being, the most stalwart, kind, and loyal person I know, he is a Muslim. He also fought for this country. There are many more like him, the vast majority are like him, just people with jobs, families, the same daily worries that normal people have. They hate this shit with ISIS too. And you want to kill them because you're an ignorant chicken shit.

You're too stupid to be allowed an opinion. Seriously, you're in the dangerous category of dumb. Hopefully some day you can personally reap what you sow.

Mahalo loser