Bernie Sanders' Take: We Need Allies To Fight ISIS

[Uncle Joe]

Clinton and fellow presidential candidate Bernie Sanders agreed on disparaging Trump’s ISIS strategy, but clashed on foreign policy issues, with Sanders tying Clinton’s push to oust Libya’s dictator, Moammar Gadhafi, to her plans for fighting ISIS. "I worry too much that Secretary Clinton is too much into regime change and a little bit too aggressive without knowing what the unintended consequences might be," Sanders said. "We have got to get our foreign policy and our priorities right. It is not Assad who is attacking the United States -- it is ISIS."

Meanwhile, on the GOP end of things, the aforementioned front-runner of the Republican party continued to call for a ban on Muslims in a recent GOP debate, and expressed his plan for how to deal with ISIS during a recent campaign stop in Iowa. “ISIS is making a tremendous amount of money because...they have certain areas of oil, some in Syria, some in Iraq,” Trump said. “I would bomb the shit out of them.”
“You hear it at the Thanksgiving table all the time,” said Charles Sennott, WGBH News Analyst, in an interview with Boston Public Radio. “I get the emotional reaction to something as frightening as ISIS, is to say, let's go all out. ‘Why aren’t we just going after those guys, I don’t get it. I don’t get why we don’t just go in and bomb the heck out of Iraq.’ But that, strategically, would be potentially catastrophic.”

The idea of bombing an area to attack ISIS, according to Sennott, does not take into account the inevitable civilian casualties. “Take city hall in Raqqa,” Sennott said. “Raqqa is this little hovel where ISIS/Daesh has built its headquarters. The city hall has become where a lot of the leadership is stationed. And right beneath their offices in city hall are the cells that are holding all of these NGO workers, and Iraqis and Syrians and civilians who they’ve picked up, women, young men, anyone who they don’t like is sitting there rotting in these cells, and you’re going to kill a lot of civilians in that one little airstrike.”

But if that sentiment of obliterating ISIS via bombs resonates with everyday U.S. citizens, afraid for their lives, Sennott said he can understand Trump’s appeal to that demographic. “[Donald Trump] is the physical Id of the Republican party,” Sennott said. “And as much as I think Donald Trump speaks to the Id of the Republican Party, ‘yeah, I’m greedy, yeah, I don’t really like minorities, yeah I do want to build a wall, what about it?’ ...I think Bernie Sanders is the Id of the democratic party, which is, ‘yeah, why shouldn’t we take care of poor people, and yeah, income inequality is a big issue, and yeah, war and wealth are connected.’”

During the debate, Sennott said Sanders asked a really important question: Where are our alleged allies in this fight? “When he went after Saudi Arabia and Qatar, he said, ‘yeah, we need troops on the ground, but where are the Saudis, where are the Qataris?’ That is a great question,” Sennott said. “When [Sanders] talks about the billions and billions of dollars the Qataris are spending on exploiting workers for the World Cup, he turned the corner back to why do you do that, and you won’t invest in someone who’s put an enemy on your doorstep?”

(snip)

http://wgbhnews.org/post/bernie-sanders-take-we-need-allies-fight-isis

There is more on the link.

[bigwillq]

1. Kick (nt)

[kacekwl]

2. Look, it's time to call on all countries who truly want to defeat ISIS

to put aside their differences ,sit down together and come up with a plan to do so. If you can't do this then it shows you are not serious or have something to gain by not participating. Time to sift out who is supporting ISIS and who is not. You can't tell me these terrorists cannot be found and stopped by several "Super power" countries pooling resources . If we really want to that is.

[LWolf]

3. K & R

[randome]

4. Is killing by proxy that different from killing by drone?

What if the other countries can't get their shit together? We sit back and watch them burn? There's plenty of room for helpful suggestions but I'm sure the answer isn't as simplistic as 'let someone else take care of it'.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Everything is a satellite to some other thing.[/center][/font][hr]

[Uncle Joe]

5. Other countries WILL get their shit together, we will support them, but their interests

are primarily at stake and they will do the land fighting until ISIS is destroyed.

I suspect such an alliance will ultimately prompt more progressive reforms in those nations as well.

[Uncle Joe]

6. P.S. We must have a broad coalition of allies against ISIS and Hillary's solution of taking Assad

out at the same time and creating a no-fly zone is foolhardy and potentially suicidal.

ISIS is the primary enemy, Russia supports Assad, so what do we do if the Russian Jets violate the no-fly zone in support of Assad?

If we shoot down their fighter jet (s) the alliance is tore apart, ISIS is strengthened and we risk WWIII if we don't, the U.S. loses credibility with our allies.

There must be a diplomatic/political solution to Assad, no matter the difficulties.

[randome]

8. And if Obama could have found a diplomatic solution, I'm sure he would have gone for it.

Just as I'm sure a 'no-fly zone', by itself, would accomplish little. But there needs to be more meat on Sanders' position other than 'work well with others'. Neither candidate is big on details, which is understandable since it's still early in the campaign.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Everything is a satellite to some other thing.[/center][/font][hr]

[Uncle Joe]

9. Bernie has specifically stated that Saudi Arabia, and Qatar will have to step up to the plate, he's

against a no fly zone and has also said that a diplomatic or political solution will need to be reached in regards to Assad.

I believe President Obama is attempting the same goals and as I stated before this will be challenging, however Hillary's position is foolhardy, potentially suicidal and as Hillary has already stated in the first debate that "Iran is among the enemies that she is most proud of," (a most inept diplomatic response especially from a former Secretary of State) reaching any agreement with them will be all the more difficult.

[Uncle Joe]

7. Kicked for Bernie's superior security position. n/t

[NuclearDem]

10. No fucking shit?

So virtually the entire European Union (except Malta), NATO, ANZUS, the Arab League, and a unanimous declaration by the Security Council?

Not even including the roles Russia, Iran, and Kurdistan are playing, the potential role India and China are likely to play, and how Nigeria, Mali, and the Phillipines have been fighting ISIS-affiliated groups for years.

Going to need a little bit more than "we need allies."

[Uncle Joe]

11. Saudi Arabia and Qatar will have to step up to the plate, especially in regards to ground forces,

not to mention a rapprochement with Iran for this to work.

One thing is for sure, trying to take out Assad at the same time while creating no-fly zone as Hillary proposes is foolhardy and potentially suicidal.