Sanders backs Obama on ISIS

[MalaspinaGold]

Eh, they're still around and significant, but getting weaker because both Assad and ISIS are targeting them (and meanwhile keeping an unofficial ceasefire between them).

The same problem with the Syrian Kurds goes to Iraqi Kurds... if they push too far beyond Kurdish territory, then all sorts of sectarian complications come up. Plus the Kurds are not interested in much right now except keeping ISIS out of Kurdistan. Ultimately it will take a semi-competent Iraqi army to clear up ISIS in Iraq, and united front to rid Syria of ISIS.

[Mr. Morden]

I've posted this before, but here's a useful comment on the "Free Syrian Army" by a contributor to Joshua Landis's blog (Landis being a leading American Syria expert):

http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/the-free-syrian-army-doesnt-exist/

[MalaspinaGold]

Good article, cleared up a lot of points I had about the issue. Still brings up the question I guess, which side do we want to win- Assad or the rebels. And which ever side is preferable, we should probably send arms to them, in the hope that they gain the advantage soon, whether it be the regime or whoever is fighting it, for the simple reason that an extremely bloody stalemate is all Syria can look forward to, without some sort of game changer.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Eh, they're still around and significant, but getting weaker because both Assad and ISIS are targeting them (and meanwhile keeping an unofficial ceasefire between them).

The same problem with the Syrian Kurds goes to Iraqi Kurds... if they push too far beyond Kurdish territory, then all sorts of sectarian complications come up. Plus the Kurds are not interested in much right now except keeping ISIS out of Kurdistan. Ultimately it will take a semi-competent Iraqi army to clear up ISIS in Iraq, and united front to rid Syria of ISIS.

The Kurdish forces aren't exclusively Kurdish.

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http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/arabs-join-kurdish-militia-in-aleppo.htm

[MalaspinaGold]

The thing is, even if there are a militarily significant number of non-Kurds in the Kurdish forces (which I'm not convinced of), they are still subject to Kurdish officers, Kurdish governmental bodies, who, again, are not interested in much beyond securing Kurdish territory. If there were a large (say 10% of Syrian Peshmerga) proportion that was Sunni Arab, then MAYBE you could liberate some of the areas not adjacent to Kurdistan, but that's a big if, and it would require exceptionally good luck.