Poll: Do you think Trump will keep his promise to "Knock out ISIS"?

Hmmm?

No, he'll probably make everything worse

He'll take credit for every victory and blame every defeat on the media

probably wont make things worse, but i doubt he will fix it either

Blah, blah, blah, terrorism is an ideal, not a country, etc, etc. To be fair, can they actually be knock out? What guaranteed do we have that another terrorist group won't arise later from its ashes?

Ya, just send a bunch of aid and weapons to Yemen like ye did to Afghanistan...

yutterh posted...

No, he'll probably make everything worse

well, can't eliminate something that brings in the $$$

Doesn't look like it.

Given that he also refuses to commit ground troops, it's going to be quite a challenge. Granted, if we stopped getting in Russia's way, we might be closer to "knocking out ISIS"

I think Trump will do the exact same thing as Obama did (I.E. mostly stand by on the sidelines and support the soldiers from other countries - notably Iraq - actually doing the fighting), then take credit for ISIS's inevitable defeat.

That's the joke of it - even before Trump's election, ISIS was well on its way to defeat. They were never a credible threat to America or global stability; no more so, at any rate, than every other whackjob terrorist organization that has reared its head in the last few decades.

Ferarri619 posted...

Hmmm?

I imagine he would try if he had the slightest idea what he was doing but no, he's just going to make things much, much worse.

To be fair, it's out of his control, really.

darkknight109 posted...

That's the joke of it - even before Trump's election, ISIS was well on its way to defeat. They were never a credible threat to America or global stability; no more so, at any rate, than every other whackjob terrorist organization that has reared its head in the last few decades.

The fact that ISIS affiliates have engaged in terror in the US seems to contradict the idea that they aren't a threat. More so, if ISIS *does* gain control of nations in the region, they could pose a threat on par with Iran. And, of course, you downplay the problems caused by terrorism in recent decades including 9/11 which helped exacerbate a recession.

Zeus posted...

The fact that ISIS affiliates have engaged in terror in the US seems to contradict the idea that they aren't a threat.

Yeah, sure, a couple dozen people dead in flashy but ultimately immaterial attacks. Get back to me when they manage to kill more Americans in a year than cars do in a day.

Zeus posted...

More so, if ISIS *does* gain control of nations in the region

Which they never will, given that they are in complete collapse and even at the apex of their power they couldn't do much more than briefly carve out a chunk of Syria and Iraq for themselves (and even then, only because Iraq's government couldn't get over its own sectarianism and Syria was embroiled in a war of its own). The idea that they could ever hope to form a permanent, functional nation-state is ludicrous. Their "caliphate" was founded with no allies and with virtually every major power in the region gunning for them - they were doomed from the outset.

Zeus posted...

And, of course, you downplay the problems caused by terrorism in recent decades including 9/11 which helped exacerbate a recession.

Most of the long-term economic damage caused by 9/11 wasn't by the event itself, it was by America's (over)reaction to it.

Did I say that terrorism wasn't a problem? No, it's just not as big of one as people make it out to be.

Roughly 3000 Americans have died over the last two decades to terrorism, or about 150 people a year. By contrast, cancer kills half a million a year, about 5000 people die to workplace fatalities, and 1000 people a year die to fucking lightning . That's how much of a "threat" terrorism is - you're literally more likely to be struck by lightning than die to a terrorist, and not just a little bit more likely, but a full order of magnitude more.

And yes, the fact that anyone dies to terrorism is a travesty and the victims deserve our respect and condolences, but a degree of perspective is in order here (especially given that America is apparently so incapable of reacting to terrorism with any degree of impartiality that they have thrown literally tens of trillions of dollars at the war on terror in the years since 9/11 and don't exactly have a lot to show for it).

Trump is putting a great deal of effort into empowering ISIS.

No chance.

BlackScythe0 posted...

Trump is putting a great deal of effort into empowering ISIS.

Maybe he's just trying to follow the example of the last administration, who straight up helped create it.

Of course not. Remember when the fox news grandpa president said he knew more than the generals? Why would anyone believe that?

Nah, ISIS is funded and operated by our supposed allies in that area.

A couple weeks ago there was a awkward situation. Pentagon blacked militants, where fighting CIA funded rebels.

http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-cia-pentagon-isis-20160327-story.html

Assad isn't that bad given that the US and Israel are trying to do a regime change in Syria. By doing this we're backing 'moderate' rebels. But these rebels still behead kids, and throw gays off rooftops. Basically we're trying to do what we did to Libya, only it got way more fucked up.

The Rojava are alright, but they got communist elements in their groups.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

BlackScythe0 posted...

Trump is putting a great deal of effort into empowering ISIS.

Maybe he's just trying to follow the example of the last administration, who straight up helped create it.