If you read enough news and watch enough cable television about the threat of the Islamic State, the radical Sunni Muslim militia group better known simply as ISIS, you will inevitably encounter a parade of retired generals demanding an increased US military presence in the region. They will say that our government should deploy, as retired General Anthony Zinni demanded, up to 10,000 American boots on the ground to battle ISIS. Or as in retired General Jack Keane’s case, they will make more vague demands, such as for “offensive” air strikes and the deployment of more military advisers to the region.
But what you won’t learn from media coverage of ISIS is that many of these former Pentagon officials have skin in the game as paid directors and advisers to some of the largest military contractors in the world. Ramping up America’s military presence in Iraq and directly entering the war in Syria, along with greater military spending more broadly, is a debatable solution to a complex political and sectarian conflict. But those goals do unquestionably benefit one player in this saga: America’s defense industry.HuffPo
Same as it ever was. Our media is utterly failing the nation. Party immaterial. While the average oxygen thief worries about Obama calling ISIS, ISIL.....or conjures contrived ire at their perception of media bias....they remain oblivious to the campaign by the major parties and the incestuous relationship with the American media, to keep the American public ignorant.
Bread and circuses. We deserve what befalls us.
I have read your post twice and read the top part of your linked article and I have NO IDEA what you're saying. Do you favor boots on the ground or not? Mustang does and he totally disagreed with the Iraq war, etc. Now, he feels we can't beat ISIS without boots on the ground.
ReplyDelete"ignorant" of WHAT? You know what the public doesn't know?
WHAT?
I don't favor boots on the ground, but I do favor striking ISIS wherever we can find them by air. But that wasn't the point of the post. Our cable media [I don't think I'll call them news anymore] employs paid and unpaid spokespeople who advocate for a particular point of view, without said infotainment channel disclosing the relevant resume of their 'guests'.
DeleteWe see one flavor of 'experts' on one particular channel...and another flavor on another...which typically corresponds with the political bent of the cable channel.
The public is led around by the nose, when they form their assessment via cable media.
I'm hearing more and more experts on FOX and CNN say we need guys ON the ground, but I don't favor that. I don't see why we can't strike their camps...all we see are ISIS photos in the desert..remote locations, etc. Can't be that hard to find them and hit hard.
DeleteThe public doesn't need to be experts on battle, etc...we can't all be experts. The problem is those who don't watch both sides of the aisle's cable channels. They're not realizing there ARE two ways of looking at anything, let alone warfare.
To be fair, any air campaign has to entail some special operations folks on the ground, especially if we're going to enable the Kurdish Peshmerga to take the fight to a conclusion..but it's important to remember that some who are 'experts' on cable media [such as Jack Keane] have a financial stake in these sorts of things.
Delete"The public doesn't need to be experts on battle, etc...we can't all be experts."
Agreed, but the public typically can't be bothered to even conduct a simple Google search to verify what they're being fed. And I would be remiss if I didn't reiterate my opinion that there are more often than not...more than just two sides to an issue. That, in my estimation, is one of the primary drivers in how cable media had usurped actual journalism in America.
BTW, if you haven't read my post below, the War Nerd does pretty good job of detailing how ISIS has bee successful thus far....and why that success has limits.
Deletez, have you ever heard the phrase, "military industrial complex"?
ReplyDeleteThat's essentially what CI is referring to.
CI said: "I don't favor boots on the ground, but I do favor striking ISIS wherever we can find them by air. But that wasn't the point of the post"
ReplyDeleteSomething done with low cost, and with very little or no danger to our airmen.
HAMAS also needs constant air "attention" until it is completely eliminated. But let Israel handle that.
Who is retired General Anthony Zinni lobbying for?
ReplyDeleteRaytheon, General Dynamics? Gotta think of the economy.
Even better. Zinni is acting CEO of BAE and he has a relationship with Blackwater.
DeleteThe guy is mercenary garbage.