If the West, ie. US/UK/Israel,etc. liked Al Qaeda, they are going to love ISIS/Daash. These guys are in the order of magnitudes more battle hardened and diversely skilled than even Bin Laden's Al Qaeda, who brought you 9/11. The amount of foreign fighters joining ISIS from both the Islamic world and the West are simply staggering. http://fabiusmaximus.com/2014/08/20/michael-flynn-jihadists-war-middle-east-strategy-70890/#more-70890 Not only are they able to adapt between 4GW to conventional Blitzkrieg modes of warfare, I would now consider ISIS to be the 21st century equivalent of Mongol hordes. They are emphasizing high mobility and light in logistical support requirements, which means they could disperse easily, avoiding NATO airstrikes and create diversionary raids to stretch out all their foes now. The fact they have been able to take on the Peshmerga Kurds, Shiite militias, Iraqi army and now NATO and still remain a viable fighting force makes them even a greater threat to Western interests than even Russia's foray into Ukraine. NATO's pin prick airstrikes are going to do nothing to stop such an adaptable force. Once we see ISIS and her ilk reach the Golan Heights along Israel, we are going to see Armageddon. That is the line Netty is giving to his constituents when they were agitating for the IDF to finish off Hamas in Gaza. Unless of course ISIS turns out to be actually their creation to create discord amongst the Arabs. Frankly I would not mind one bit if ISIS takes down a few spoiled and rotten Arab monarchies, like the Sauds, Bahrain or UAE.

Czar Vlad Putin predicted precisely that this cluster was bound to happen: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/opinion/putin-plea-for-caution-from-russia-on-syria.html?hp&_r=1& http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/08/22/was-putin-right-about-syria/ However, I do not agree with the Colonel who still considers Iran a regional threat as the Saudi and other Sunni Wahhabists supporters have fomented far more regional instability. Iran's policies of supporting Hezbollah and Shia Iraqi factions are merely reactions to the madness unleashed by the US invasion of Iraq, continued Israeli aggression in Palestine/Lebanon and Sunni supported terror insurgencies. In this current environment, I would not blame the Iranians for pursuing nuclear enrichment one bit.

Just a suggestion to the US MIC and Maliki to kiss and make up to deal with this ISIS. So the USAF wants to junk the A-10 Warthog to the boneyards of the Nevada desert. What will happen to these Hog driver pilots who are no longer employed on this platform. Will they be left unemployed and if so, how much would it cost for Maliki to re-hire them as paid mercs in the Blackwater/ Xe Corp. airforce flying the A-10 for CAS for Maliki's army? Kills two birds with one stone sort of speak as the USAF can offload these A-10 with spare parts and ammo at a discount to a client state that is waiting for effective fighter aircraft support for her army that is not putting up any effective resistance to ISIS who are running roughshod in Iraq and will soon be threatening the Kurds, Iran, Syria, Jordan and maybe even their benefactor, the Saudis.

Hamas has and always will be the canard for Israel as it serves the purpose of keeping the Palestinian leadership factions between it and PA Fatah fractious and unreliable as a bargaining partner. So much for the Oslo Peace Plan as Netanyahu had always wanted to sabotage. Case in point, the infiltration tunnels from Gaza into Israel were already completed. If Hamas would only send a sizable infiltration team to Sderot or any nearby Israeli settlement, they would have been able to easily tunnel their way right underneath one and taken Israeli hostages. The fact they have not done so and only showered their ineffective rockets to draw Israeli ire reveals a lot. Netty's withdrawl serves the purpose of leaving the Hamas in power also plays into this narrative as the Gazans could be starved into desperation, launch a few more rockets as well as give Israeli reservists and MIC a chance to target test their new Rafael or IAI wargear inventions as to mow the grass every few years.

I say ditch this whole military training academy outreach as it clearly does not work. The cultural gulf between the Afghans and the West is too vast to overcome to have an effective policy of "Afghanization". What ISAF needs to do is to take a hands off approach and barricade themselves in their designated super-bases across the country and then only send out rapid reaction armored and close air support forces to support the Afghan military and police forces in the case of Taliban insurgent activities.

ISIS is very astute and seems to be playing all sides and have planted themselves in the strategic central location to take on Syrian gov, Iraq gov and now Kurd Peshmergs. All these sides are distrustful of each other and wracked by their own weaknesses. They could now start to destroy each side in detail. Gather resources, interdict transportation routes, pipelines, utilities and etc. And now they are amassing heavier captured weaponry to ultimately encircle Baghdad. What do you think is their end game here? Would they be able to take on Jordan next or should they be able finish off Assad? What would you do Col.?