Thread: SAS and US special forces forming hunter killer unit to 'smash Islamic State'

Originally Posted by The Big Fella

What Western politicians failed to grasp is the likes of Saddam, Gaddafi, the Taliban and Assad are needed to keep these religious savages under control.

Agreed.(except Taliban)
Bit late now though.
Why the west thought it was a good idea to back extremeist rebels is beyond me.

Originally Posted by Koojo

Why the west thought it was a good idea to back extremeist rebels is beyond me.

Because they want wars - very profitable activity. Still amazed people can not understand this.

Originally Posted by Koojo

Originally Posted by The Big Fella

What Western politicians failed to grasp is the likes of Saddam, Gaddafi, the Taliban and Assad are needed to keep these religious savages under control.

Agreed.(except Taliban)
Bit late now though.
Why the west thought it was a good idea to back extremeist rebels is beyond me.

Conflict makes for strange alliances at times. It depends on who the extremist rebels are rebelling against. The capitalist west and communist Soviet Union were allies against Nazi Germany. There are numerous examples of alliances forged by the presence of common enemies. Such alliances may quickly dissolve once the common enemy is defeated....at which point the common enemy may become a friend and the previous friend becomes an enemy etc etc. It's been that way since man came out of the caves and is not likely to change.

Originally Posted by The Big Fella

Left alone Afghanistan would have continued on as a tribal in fighting country that was no threat to anyone outside it.

Indeed - but there in no money in that for the Killers for Democracy.

Originally Posted by The Big Fella

They may not have been very nice to some of the Afghan population

Now there is an understatement worthy of note.....

Originally Posted by The Big Fella

The only reason they were invaded was because they simply refused to hand over Bin Laden without proof of his crimes

Well, there was that little business of the training camps for fanatics who had some very nasty traits and goals..all of which were directed at western interests.

Originally Posted by pseudolus

Indeed - but there in no money in that for the Killers for Democracy.

Yes indeed, we killed off democracy in Taliban controlled Afghanistan ...those Taliban boys were real democrats; real civil rights supporters, and huge in the field of female emancipation.......

Crazy what people believe.... any excuse for a war and yet again the sheep are falling for it hook line and sinker.

[QUOTE="pseudolus"]Crazy what people believe.... any excuse for a war and yet again the sheep are falling for it hook line and sinker[/QUOTE

Some of the horseshit that you seem to believe would definitely fall in the "crazy" category.... News and views from facebook....always current and definitive.....

Originally Posted by pseudolus

Crazy what people believe.... any excuse for a war and yet again the sheep are falling for it hook line and sinker.

Applies to most every sort of absorbed stimulation/information...
Just have to repeat anything over and again - becomes established convention that cannot be challenged or questioned.

Originally Posted by The Big Fella

Left alone Afghanistan would have continued on as a tribal in fighting country that was no threat to anyone outside it.

Bit more complicated

There is a ghost in the neighborhood called Pakistan, with serious domestic conflict

Originally Posted by koman

Some of the horseshit that you seem to believe would definitely fall in the "crazy" category..

Maybe- give examples. But the fact that the US and EU totally fekked up in Syria isn't. Or Iraq (not so much the EU that one, except the UK). In both cases, senile Mccain was one of the big mouths. Shame the viets didn't keep him in a tiger cage.

^Add Libya to that list, possibly the biggest fuk up of the lot and hardly gets a mention in the press these days.

Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

Sensationalist tabloid crap. I don't know why Snub posts this drivel - usually around 3AM Seattle time. Wonder if he reads it before he posts it?

I completely, unequivocally and unambiguously agree with you, Davis, and as you were a member of a special service force (a Navy Seal, I believe) your opinion holds much more water with me than a fuckin' UK tabloid newspaper. How come none of the major news agencies aren't reporting this 'news'? Has anybody Googled "Task Force Black"? The only hits you'll get re: recent ops is from the Daily Mirror or publications that quote the Daily Mirror as their source. What a load of crap. According to Wiki it's been around since just after 9/11 but nobody seems to know what, if anything, it's been doing since then. Apparently, the group does have carte blanche, so it wouldn't surprise me if it's been up to something but it's laughable that the Daily Mirror would hear about it first.

It does have an interesting history.

The unit was operating up until at least January 2007; it is not clear whether it is still operational with the U.S. drawdown from Iraq. In January 2007 Task Force 88 established a subsidiary task force, Task Force 17, in addition to an existing task force, Task Force 16. Task Force 17 was established to 'counter Iranian influence.' Task Force 17 was to be made Initially Operationally Capable as of 'NLT 15 January 2007 and Full Operational Capability (FOC) will be in place NLT 15 February 2007.'[10]
Operations[edit]

The task force is known to operate very autonomously. In their only publicly known operation they reportedly conducted several raids without requiring approval from higher authorities.[citation needed] The task force was also responsible for the elimination of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Over 18 months beginning in early 2007, the task force reportedly arrested 3,500 terrorists in Baghdad and killed several hundred others. Thus, al Qaeda bomb attacks went down from an average of 150 per month (killing monthly 3,000 people) to about two. During the campaign, six SAS troops were killed and 30 injured. Delta Force suffered an overall 20 percent casualty rate.[11]
During operations in Al-Anbar province, TF88 operatives entered the insurgent controlled city of Haditha, several times finding Zarqawi's hideouts. Their raids found eggs still cooking, just missing the terrorist leader. Based on this current and actionable intelligence, they asked the commander of II MEF(FWD) to have to city of Haditha assaulted in order to flush Zarqawi out. The general chose the 3rd Bn 1st Marines, experienced in heavy fighting from Operation Phantom Fury, to assault the city.
It is not clear what the reduced U.S. military role following the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement and associated drawdown to purely advisory operations has had on the task force's operations.

Originally Posted by koman

It's in the Daily Mirror so it must be true and accurate. The SAS always calles the Mirror first, to advise them of upcoming operations....

So true, koman the Barbarian. I'm going to give both of you guys a greenie.

Had we not initiated our ill advised, expensive, and failed interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria- there would be no Isis now. A plain fact worth repeating infinite times, particularly to our political sector. Which is why you will rarely read it in the western media, which operates as very little than a government shill these days, a privatised Pravda.

That said I think we have very little choice, both morally and objectively, than to fight Isis- both directly, and by assisting those forces fighting it. But the taxpayer has every right to demand honesty and accountability for the sad litany of lies and failure that lead us to this situation. Whilst we didn't create the radical Sunni ideologies that underpin Isis, we did create the situation on the ground that enabled it.

I wonder if Rick"danger"Thai is polishing off his arsenal of weapons getting ready to be called up?

Originally Posted by buriramboy

^Add Libya to that list, possibly the biggest fuk up of the lot and hardly gets a mention in the press these days.

Benghazi, I have been trolling Fox News for updates on Benghazi ( a town in Libya )
No up dates , have Fox reporters gone on strike in Benghazi.

Originally Posted by helge

Originally Posted by The Big Fella

Left alone Afghanistan would have continued on as a tribal in fighting country that was no threat to anyone outside it.

Bit more complicated

There is a ghost in the neighborhood called Pakistan, with serious domestic conflict

There's a solution to that. It's called India. Next time it clashes with Pakistan, I believe China and Russia will look the other way. The west hopefully will mind its own business when India removes the threat on its border.

Originally Posted by zygote1

When you say we, who do you mean?

A very fair question, these days. Waddya mean "we", Whiteman?

Originally Posted by zygote1

The French were the most culpable of westerners in supporting the rebel forces

But they correctly refused to participate in the Iraq debacle. I am of necessity painting with a broad brush (few would read a 10,000 word essay here, which could easily be produced). The 'Theme' however, is pretty damn obvious- our foreign policy in the region has been idiotic, hypocritical, mendacious, expensive and counterproductive. A blind bat can see that.
Actually, the idiocy of many Sunni nations is manifest too- as you say, in many cases they were quite actively supporting the Islamist rebels in Syria, and frankly the threat several of them now face from Isis considerably exceeds the threat to us. But calling someone else an idiot does not reduce our culpability- and it certainly should not reduce the accountability of our political sector. But these days, we obey the Nazi mantra of the Big Lie. Those who should be in jail are getting rich(er), those who point out the inconvenient truth, end up sacked or sidelined.

Originally Posted by zygote1

Originally Posted by helge

Originally Posted by The Big Fella

Left alone Afghanistan would have continued on as a tribal in fighting country that was no threat to anyone outside it.

Bit more complicated

There is a ghost in the neighborhood called Pakistan, with serious domestic conflict

There's a solution to that. It's called India. Next time it clashes with Pakistan, I believe China and Russia will look the other way. The west hopefully will mind its own business when India removes the threat on its border.

It won't. Both India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons so I doubt things will escalate too much.

Originally Posted by sabang

Those who should be in jail are getting rich(er), those who point out the inconvenient truth, end up sacked or sidelined.

Or die mysteriously, out walking the dog one summers evening in rural England.

What a wanker Cameron is.

Originally Posted by Neverna

What a wanker Cameron is.

Comes with the territory, naturally...

They're all wankers.

hear hear