JT

Back In Iraq?

Aug 23, 2014

SJ
Stage· 45 messages
Aug 23, 2014

Tensions are mounting again in the Middle East thanks to the incursions of the ISIS and the air assaults from the United States. Join Jack Terry and Steve Johnson as they tawk about these troubling new developments.

JT

Jack Terry · 5:00 PM

Good afternoon Steve how are you today?
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:00 PM

I'm doing good Jack. Thanks for this invitation to tawk.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:00 PM

Anytime. I wish we had a happier topic to tawk about, but it seems like we're getting back involved in Iraq again.
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:01 PM

I'm more surprised by the fact that people didn't see this as inevitable than I am by the fact that it's happening at all. There are just far too many factors going on over there for this to be seen as a shocking development.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:02 PM

I understand where you're coming from. As someone who studies these situations extensively, what do you see as the biggest issues currently facing the United states when it comes to the Middle East in general, and iraq specifically?
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:03 PM

The most recent and pressing development that is to blame is the rise of the ISIS-the Islamic Society of Irag and Syria-that has been born in the years long civil war in Syria and the lack of outside pressure to put a stop to it.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:04 PM

But that's a war that has been raging for years. How does that affect developments within the last month?
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:04 PM

You have to remember, we're tawking about cultures and societies that go back thousands of years, so a half dozen years is considered very recent in this area.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:05 PM

Is it this long standing history that is to blame in Iraq, and to a lesser extent Israel and Palestine?
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:07 PM

It is the history, as well as the ignorance and hubris of Western powers. Remember the borders of many of these countries were drawn up by the victors of WWI with little knowledge of, and no participation from, the people who actually lived there.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:07 PM

In other words, arbitrary boundaries set to serve the purposes of outside forces.
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:08 PM

Exactly. A crude by effective anology to the Middle East would be if the winning party of the next Presidential election here got to redraw the boundaries of the states that voted for the losing parties.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:09 PM

Yikes. That would be a frightening concept.
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:09 PM

Like I said crude, but effective.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:10 PM

So why do you think there was hesitation to go into Syria? There wasn't the same restraint shown towards Iraq.
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:11 PM

It's politics, Jack. What do we, as a nation, stand to gain versus lose when making a decision like this? The cold war may be over, but we still need to tread lightly when it comes to Russia.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:11 PM

Who backs the ruling minority power in Syria.
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:12 PM

Yes. Had a military move been made earlier, the development of the ISIS may have been thwarted. Now, allowed to grow unchecked, they are seeking out to redraw the maps like they once were and establish an Islamic caliphate.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:12 PM

What finally brought this to a head in the last month?
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:13 PM

There is a semi-autonomous region in Northern Iraq, Southern Turkey and Western Syria where the Kurdish live. In the political mess that is Iraq, this is a population the United States sees as most stable,
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:14 PM

when compared to the centuries old battles between the Shi'ites and the Sunnis.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:14 PM

Go on.
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:15 PM

Now, with the Iraqi Prime Minister making waves about not giving up his position and the Sunnis and Shi'ites still fighting, the ISIS took this as a perfect time to make deep inroads into Iraq.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:15 PM

Attacking the Kurds along the way.
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:15 PM

(Hee hee hee, Kurds and way. Sorry.)
JT

Jack Terry · 5:15 PM

Oh that's bad.
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:16 PM

Sorry, couldn't resist. Yes, the ISIS has a very black/white, "you believe what we do or you die" mentality, which as history shows is no different than any religious based war.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:17 PM

And we launched our airstrikes to protect this Kurdish minority.
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:18 PM

Mostly. The unofficial US government position is a stable "Kurdistan" would help bring stability to the region, although to openly back it would be the same as us saying to Iraq, the country we just tried to help create,
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:18 PM

that we don't believe in their own constitution. Basically we wouldn't recognize the governemnt we just helped to build.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:18 PM

you said mostly.
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:18 PM

The Kurds also have most of the oil.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:19 PM

Ah. Gotcha. So we attack with air strikes, and the ISIS retaliates in a way to get our attention.
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:19 PM

By beheading James Foley, a reporter who has been in their captivity for well over a year.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:20 PM

Wait, what?
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:21 PM

Exactly, November 2012 was when he was captured. The first demand for ransom was made last year. It was a ridiculous sum of money, one made to show that the US government would be unwilling to negotiate.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:21 PM

How could we let an American be held that long without doing anything?
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:21 PM

Nobody says we did. reports are trickling out that commandos staged raids that were unsuccessful.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:22 PM

So in your expert opinion what happens next for ISIS, Iraq and the Middle east?
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:23 PM

Not much. It's an election year, don't you know? So neither party is going to risk doing anything that might backfire and hurt their chances come November. I think it will be status quo: air strikes to protect our interests.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:23 PM

Will ISIS pull back?
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:24 PM

No more than they have to. They are too savvy and know that this period of inaction on our government's part is the perfect time to make progress.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:24 PM

As always Steve it's been an informative and sobering tawk. I look forward to hearing from you as this new crisis unfolds.
SJ

Steve Johnson · 5:24 PM

Thanks for the opportunity to tawk Jack.
JT

Jack Terry · 5:24 PM

Thank you.