Two Ex-Army Rangers Believe Flip Flops And Sarongs Will Defeat ISIS

[LiberalArkie]

http://gizmodo.com/two-ex-army-rangers-believe-flip-flops-and-sarongs-will-1687822266



I recently met two ex-Army Rangers in a bar, and got onto the topic of the war against ISIS. They told me they knew the solution: flip flops. I scoffed, which probably isn't something you should do to an Army Ranger's face. And they put me in my place.

Matthew "Griff" Griffin and Donald Lee both served multiple tours in Afghanistan fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban. These are the guys behind Combat Flip Flops. They still see it as their mission to defeat Islamic extremism in Afghanistan and they think they can do so more effectively with jobs than they ever could by dropping bombs.

Combat Flip Flops makes flip flops in Colombia, bags in America, sarongs and shemaghs in Afghanistan, and jewelry in Laos.

"Your average fighter just wants to go make money to feed their families," explains Lee. "The average annual income for an Afghan is $600. If you give them the option and say 'Hey, I'll give you $50 to go plant this bomb or I'll give you a job where you can make an honest wage and you don't have to worry about getting killed,' they'll take the job. It's proven, it works."


Snip

[phantom power]

1. Amazing -- helping people instead of dropping Freedom Bombs?

So crazy, it might work...

[Brickbat]

2. Maybe people will listen if it's Army Rangers saying it.

[7962]

12. They do carry a clout that pundits DONT.

Although many terrorists we've seen in the past are educated and come from well-off families. I do think money matters to some, the question is how many.

[bullwinkle428]

3. K&R. Didn't the entire RW media go fucking apeshit when a State Dept.

representative say something just like this last week?

[Oneironaut]

4. The State Dept. could say "Free Money for everyone!" and the RW media would go apeshit.

I could see RWingers throwing the free money into a bonfire because it's "Socialist."

[Brigid]

6. Let them try going apeshit in front of a former Army Ranger saying it.

I would pay money to see that.

[appal_jack]

5. The 7.62x39 casing as fastener in the pic is brilliant. k&r, nt

[Brigid]

7. Yep. Nice touch.

[Coventina]

8. I watched an episode of "Now" with Bill Moyers that made a very compelling case that jobs are the

surest cure for extremism.

It convinced me.

[Dustlawyer]

9. Ironic that the "Free Market" is rejected as a solution by the very same people that tout it

as a solution to just about everything else! I guess because they want to sell more bombs, bullets, and planes!

[adieu]

10. Jobs everywhere

are the cure.

[niyad]

11. what an absolutely NOVEL concept--decent work, decent wages, no killing. wow.

I would love for ron paul to repeat his remarks about food stamps and war to them.

[tclambert]

13. But High Explosives, Inc. makes more money if we bomb people.

When we use them we have to buy more. They make even more money if they sell to both sides. See? It's a win-win-win situation . . . for High Explosives, Inc. Not so much for taxpayers or people living near where the bombs go off. But that's okay, because none of the executives of HEI live anywhere near war zones.

[jwirr]

14. We talk about eliminating poverty - maybe we would also eliminate most wars at the same time.

Except we would have to find jobs for all those in the MIC who have been making their living off of the wars.

I think these two men are right and they are telling us why we have such a mess all over the world. The last time this happened on a world wide scale we had WWII.

However, how do we do this without sending more of our jobs over seas?