Secretary of State John Kerry has tried to downplay growing concerns about the lack of commitment coming from members of President Obama’s new anti-ISIS coalition in actually doing anything beyond attending anti-ISIS conferences.
Kerry insisted it was not only “premature” to talk about what, if anything, the coalition allies will do, but was even “inappropriate” of people to be talking about how little commitment many of the members seem to have.
Kerry claimed the back of 10 Arab nations for the war, but as with coalition members from Europe, the backing is a mile wide an an inch deep, and none of them seems to be talking about taking any specific actions, beyond what they’ve already done in bankrolling various Syrian rebel factions.
Everyone pledged to nominally back the campaign “as appropriate,” but the only nation in the Middle East that’s even talked about actions was Turkey, which did so in the context of ruling out any military involvement.
At this point, France is the only nation of the massive coalition committed to join the air war, and many are saying they don’t want anything to do with the air campaign. As talk of a ground war grows, the US seems to be entirely on its own.
Despite the mostly phantom nature of the coalition, the administration has spurned cooperation with the two nations already involved in fighting ISIS, Syria and Iran, for fear that this will hurt their chances of securing the do-nothing backing of the Saudis and other GCC states.
Ultimately, it seems the US is going to great lengths to sell the fiction of a coalition to the war-weary American public, with the hopes that they can be convinced the latest war is to be fought by many nations. Just don’t expect them to fight very hard.
This collation of the willing, they being a power combine of nations that have enriched themselves upon the misery of Middle-East society, surely their thoughts are that they don’t quite see the enrichment in it, so, quite naturally they are waiting for Obama to sweeten the pot.
Not only is the Emperor naked, he doesn't even have an Empire any more! After all, what's the point of having an Empire if your vassals refuse to cough up troops to kill and die on command?
It's hard to believe that our Dear Leaders are so incompetent that they don't think to arrange for commitments from the Vassals before announcing the war. These buffoons couldn't run a lemonade stand even with Lucy to do the training!
The only audience the Administration is concerned about is the American public. Everyone else in the world already knows that the US is being worked to carry the entire load for the many different combatants and other interested parties. The US Congress is a willing participant in pulling the wool over the eyes of the American people but not because they're really concerned with ISIS as a threat. There's money to be made in making war and they want their cut. And with the intentionally depressed American job market, there is a willing supply of cannon fodder who otherwise would most likely be collecting welfare checks. Two problems solved with little effort. And as has been proven, the Congress are really unconcerned with caring for those who do the fighting and come home damaged since they've been reducing the budget of the VA since 2001 despite creating a rising tide of soldiers requiring, and being promised, care.
So, as I said, the Americans are the intended audience for the warmongers because they continue to be the only people left in the world who refuse to see what is being sold to them for what it really is.
The US cannot partner with folks who have skin the fight like Syria, Iran and Russia because the US intends to turn on these 3, as the new bogeyman, after ISIS is taken care of. So, pathetically the US is left to lie about getting commitments from ISIS sponsors, i.e., the Saudis, Turks, and Emirates.
Incidentally, if we are not going to coordinate air strikes w/ Syria is the USAF really going to fly manned flights over Russia installed Syrian aircraft defenses with non-conflict ID systems off? Or is that just US PR BS? If not, what if the Syrians turn on a AAA sight, or paint a USAF plane, or …?
The US cannot partner with folks who have skin the fight like Syria, Iran and Russia because the US intends to turn on these 3, as the new bogeyman, after ISIS is taken care of. So, pathetically the US is left to lie about getting commitments from ISIS sponsors, i.e., the Saudis, Turks, and Emirates.
This of course shows just how concerned these coalition members are about the threat from ISIS.