AP: Obama to deepen America's military role in Mideast

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Ok, so we are going to bomb the bearded men, eh? 

[Mechaman]

I got to say I am not surprised at all.

[anvi]

It's a bad idea.  Jumping into situations like this one has been a bad idea for a very long time.

[free my dawg]

As long as boots stay off the ground, I will allow it.

[Deus Naturae]

As long as boots stay off the ground, I will allow it.

Unfortunately, Obama doesn't need your permission (or Congress' for that matter).

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

As long as boots stay off the ground, I will allow it.

Unfortunately, Obama doesn't need your permission (or Congress' for that matter).

That would violate the War Powers Resolution, but no one seems to care about that.

[Associate Justice PiT]

I was hoping for an informative speech. Actually I was expecting it since I heard he'd be laying out a strategy.  Nope.

same here, I was actually expecting too much.

I think the strategy in Iraq is good. The regular army and US airstrikes will eventually manage to drive ISIS out the country.
But in Syria I don't think there is really anything to do, it's too much of a mess, and most of the "moderates" rebels are also islamists who just happen to be a bit less crazy than ISIS. It makes me cringe to hear that the "moderates" rebels will be trained in Saudi Arabia, because when they mean moderates, they actually mean that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Front_(Syria)

It's OK, we need to train our next enemies to defeat.

     It worked in Afghanistan, it will work in Syria too.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

As long as boots stay off the ground, I will allow it.

Unfortunately, Obama doesn't need your permission (or Congress' for that matter).

That would violate the War Powers Resolution, but no one seems to care about that.

Especially Obama

[Indy Texas]

But in Syria I don't think there is really anything to do, it's too much of a mess, and most of the "moderates" rebels are also islamists who just happen to be a bit less crazy than ISIS. It makes me cringe to hear that the "moderates" rebels will be trained in Saudi Arabia, because when they mean moderates, they actually mean that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Front_(Syria)

If people like Ted Cruz actually cared about Mideast Christians, as he claimed the other night, he'd be opposing Obama's decision to enable the non-ISIS Islamists in Syria.

The reality is that Bashar Assad is the only Muslim ruler in the Middle East who has demonstrated a commitment to protecting the rights of religious minorities - for Christians and for Alawites. If you support the "moderate" rebels there, you're giving guns and weapons to people who will eventually use them against anyone who isn't Sunni, or to force people at gunpoint to adhere to their version of Shariah. There is no such thing as a "moderate" Islamist.