President Carter Arguing For An Earlier Ground War Against ISIL?

[TomCADem]

I have to say that I am really surprised at Carter's stance, particularly since an earlier military effort would have been seen as propping up Assad who busy gassing his people at the time.

[TwilightGardener]

1. There's no way we could have done that. He's 90, and that's all I'm going to say.

[flamingdem]

2. So many Monday morning quarterbacks

woulda shoulda coulda. Truth is the US public would have had nothing of it if it weren't for the cinematic beheadings. We never had a solid trustworthy force in Syria to work with. Obama knew that but these others want to Tally-Ho?

Iraq was a disaster but we couldn't get rid of Maliki. They had to do it.

[TwilightGardener]

3. Well said. Obama could only do what was politically possible, both here and in Iraq.

It had to unfold the way it did. And going in to Syria is obviously still a dicey task, with no real ground forces to help us and Russia and Iran still supporting Assad.

[TomCADem]

5. Just surprised that Carter Of All People Is Getting Hawkish

I would never have imagined Carter calling for a ground war. Heck, I would expect Gore to have done so before Carter.

[BeyondGeography]

4. Obama's getting it from all sides

Which I choose to interpret as he's closer to pursuing the correct options than any of his critics would have it.

I certainly appreciate his stance on ground troops and hope he sticks with it. If national armies can't bring themselves together to fight IS, let them live under IS. The best line in Obama's UN speech last month was about ME "leaders" trying to have it both ways. Either they heal from within or they live in hell. Their choice. Life will go on either way and perhaps we'd end up with some meaningful closure when it's all said and done.