miltiades wrote:http://greece.greekreporter.com/2014/09/25/greece-brings-war-against-the-islamic-state/
Some 40 nations worldwide have joined the coalition against the barbarians.
I was very surprised to hear David Cameron telling Parliament that this "war" would not last months but years.
Let me add my thoughts on this.
ISIS will be defeated and utterly destroyed before the end of 2014.
There are however more than 50 different Islamist designated terrorist groups worldwide, was David Cameron referring to these groups as well, I wonder.
Milti,
Cameron is correct to be preparing his country for a long battle lasting a number of years.
Firstly, ISIL should be defeated soon in Iraq. In Iraq we have the boots on the ground - Peshmerga and Iraqi Security Forces. We will arm both to the teeth, provide logistics and training. They should be able to confront ISIL on the ground, with our air support. Once ISIL retreat to Syria, it becomes a little more difficult because in Syria we do not have the boots on the ground.
We do not know who to support there. There are many militant groups and all are pretty bad. The FSA seem to be the most moderate, but they too are not ideal. We are also hesitant to support the Assad Regime because his regime is just as bad as ISIL when he is prepared to Gas his own people. He did so not long ago killing 1700 civilians.
However, Assad has an opportunity to negotiate with the coalition. Maybe he might be prepared to give up his chemical and biological arsenal and promise to take a moderate line. Potentially, we could assist him under the right circumstances and support him in regaining control of his country in which case we end up with Syrian Boots on the ground. The other option is the FSA which also has extreme undertones.
At present though. We don't have a lot of options. We can attack them from the air, and every strike kills a few of them but they are bunkered down very well in towns and cities. To defeat them, we need troops on the ground. Eventually it will come to a head and the coalition will send troops - mission creep. There are also several splinter groups like Al Nusra which we need to destroy. All this will take time. Potentially as it stands, it could take a decade or more.