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Lana Diesel's avatar

I mean I don't think anyone can claim that the US is batting a thousand with their nation-building endeavors in the Mideast.

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Sep 22
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Lana Diesel's avatar

Okay but is that actually what he said? Because that doesn't seem likely.

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Sep 22
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Lana Diesel's avatar

I did listen to the episode.

On a general note, I haven't seen you around here before so I'm guessing you're new? My advice is to drop the 'tude, this isn't fucking Reddit and being a dickhead for no reason isn't appreciated. Feel free to have the last word.

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MoonDog's avatar

Lol I love it. We donтАЩt need another Zag huh? XD

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Lana Diesel's avatar

I don't mind Zag, it's useful for people who claim to be free thinkers to have dissent. What I do mind is people who insult instead of engage.

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Sep 22
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Cyrus the Younger's avatar

I'm pretty sure Lana has checked out but here's the quote:

"It would not be a stretch to say that the United States is actually a greater threat to peace and stability in the region than ISIS тАФ not least because U.S. policies in Iraq, Libya and Syria have largely paved the way for ISISтАЩ emergence as a major regional actor"

That is pretty different to your summary ("ISIS has been better for people in the Middle East than the US") and that's without any of the additional context beyond the literal quote. You can disagree with this argument without distorting it dishonestly.

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Sep 22Edited
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Cyrus the Younger's avatar

You're doing it again Adorabeezle.

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mcsvbff bebh's avatar

I think he didn't actually understand the quote

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gitmo_vacation's avatar

ISIS was formed by remnants of SaddamтАЩs security services in the mayhem of the Iraq War. ISIS literally would never have exist if it wasnтАЩt for the Iraq Invasion and the massive efforts to overthrow the Syrian state. I donтАЩt think anyone who knows anything about this topic would disagree with that statement.

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Raging Centrist's avatar

We're off on a tangent, but that's just not true. The Syrian rebellion had been brewing for decades and was triggered by the Arab Spring. Asad's horrific actions towards his own people turned them even farther against him. If you read accounts from Syrians at the beginning of the war, they weren't radicalized yet; they were begging for the West to come save them. But when Russia intervened, and the West backed off, they lost all hope and were easy recruitment targets for any of the terrorist groups in the area.

Now the US involvement in Iraq, with Bush's mistake in disbanding the army, created the leadership that swept in and offered the disenfranchised rebels a cause.

So blaming the US for that part is understandable, but ISIS would never had grown so quickly and become so strong if the region hadn't already been a powder keg.

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