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    schuretteIsha Aran
    8/31/14 4:39pm

    I understand why Obama is indecisive. He's stuck between a rock and a hard place. Fighting ISIS effectively one needs to further arm the Kurds - who obviously have their own territorial ambitions and want to break away from Iraq altogether. This would undoubtedly distabalize neighboring Turkey with their own Kurdish minority. Not to mention piss Turkey significantly off, a key NATO ally. Then there is the other enemy of ISIS, a certain Assad of Syria who as we all know we named as the devil not even a year ago (and he is of course, let's not kid our selves like he's a reliable cooperation partner). So really whatever Obama does it's damned if you do and damned if you don't kind of scenario.

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      CurieCatschurette
      8/31/14 4:57pm

      Just about every situation has potential negative consequences, whether or not we (the US, the UN, the EU, take your pick) get involved. The news cycle doesn't dedicate the time or the coverage to nuanced issues, it's better ratings to sell off soundbites. And everyone is the worse for it.

      Thanks for your explanation, that's a lot better than you get from most TV news stations. It's just so frustrating- from our privileged distance, we can see what might happen if US troops step in to help rescue those women and the others being harmed by ISIS, and all the messiness that will follow; for the people losing their communities and their freedom, it has to be a tough pill to swallow.

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      Cocopop!schurette
      8/31/14 5:38pm

      This needs to be promoted.

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    Dances with KittensIsha Aran
    8/31/14 5:44pm

    I'd like to suggest using "slaves" instead of "brides"/"wives"—I know that the quotation marks capture the whole "their term, not mine" thing, but I think it's worth calling a spade a spade.

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      benjaminalloverIsha Aran
      8/31/14 4:38pm

      Using the tactics of kidnapping, rape and sexual slavery as weapons of war is an act against civilization itself. Of all the trumped-up reasons the U.S. military and intelligence apparatuses intervene (ahem: meddle) in the affairs of sovereign nations I find it very interesting that an sex slavery to the end of genocide is not one of those justifications.

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        The Nightmare Before Pizzabenjaminallover
        8/31/14 4:43pm

        Violence against women - or its imagery, at least - has frequently been utilized as a reason to meddle, and people have written some interesting pieces on the phenomena (Lila Abu-Lughod wrote a famous piece that talks specifically about VAW being used as a justification for intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan). Of course, it's never really about the women...

        ETA: super fucked up on the author. My bad!

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        benjaminalloverThe Nightmare Before Pizza
        8/31/14 4:46pm

        Ya I suppose it makes for an effective argument to be made to the public once they've already decided to intervene for other "more strategic" reasons.

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      FIGJAMIsha Aran
      8/31/14 7:21pm

      Every time I read about something going on in that region, I'm reminded of then General Colin Powell advising Bush Senior that "You break it, you buy it" when it comes to toppling Saddam. Seems like things in that part of the world have been spiraling out of control ever since we broke it.

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        The Nightmare Before PizzaIsha Aran
        8/31/14 4:37pm

        Look on the bright side — maybe one day a small handful of men will be shipped off to the Hague to face charges for this, found guilty of war crimes, and sentenced to a few years prison. Then everyone will say, "Thank God for justice."

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          DoribaxThe Nightmare Before Pizza
          8/31/14 5:06pm

          Why is a future show trial a bright side? For myself, I would be more than happy to drop 2,000 lb guided bombs on the ISIL fighters until they have trouble fielding anything larger than a squad anywhere. Justice is served in the international arena by preventing ISIL from doing anything else like this and possibly rescuing their victims, not by marching a select few in front of cameras to throw them in prison for crimes they freely admit to already.

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          The Nightmare Before PizzaDoribax
          8/31/14 5:18pm

          Apparently deeply bitter cynicism doesn't translate well. Just in case it's not clear - I don't think it's a bright side. It's a thinly-veiled attempt to try and demonstrate that the international community cares about what women experience during war, but really just shows that the community doesn't give a flying fuck enough to ever try to prevent or mitigate the violence.

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        captain_spleenIsha Aran
        8/31/14 8:21pm

        Well, I hope they are widowed quite quickly.

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          MamaMiaItsaMeaIsha Aran
          8/31/14 4:32pm

          Hey, she's got the same Coleman jug I use for beer when floating the river. So she uses it for... Floating this river of bullshit?

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