let them go for it

[Torplexed]

Originally Posted by Catfish

I do not shed a tear either.




"But then came oil and nationalism".
You mean colonies, greed for oil and puppet regimes, or, to be precise, the western countries came.
But you would not say "we" have anything to do with it, when we think of countries like Persia with the Anglo-Persian oil company etc.

But the Shah looked resplendent in his uniform dripping with medals! And he tried so very hard to bring his country into the 21st Century. And he was America's bff, back in the day.

Yes, the US propped up the Shah of Iran. Progressive, anti-Communist, secular. Look how that worked out. And the US has supported the Saudis for decades now. What was it, 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9-11 were Saudis?

Somehow I don't think we're going fix anything at this point. From everything that has transpired in the Middle East over the course of my lifetime, I think the US should be deeply skeptical of everyone in that region, maybe our allies as well, and should never trust the good intentions of anyone, especially a militant faction that is seeking arms and money. I'm not even sure if I trust the Kurds in the long run. I'm thinking Obama's keep away policy is probably the best course out of a bunch of bad options, but I'm also realistic in knowing that it's not all gonna solve itself.

Edit--it probably makes sense to provide Kurdish forces with money and arms to repel ISIS. But I would not go beyond that and try to form a political alliance.