Quicksand Fans

Well, some people here on the board maybe know that I really adore the USA and as I watched this video the heroic fight of the USA Airforce against ISIS in Kobane came into my mind!
They stopped ISIS and I know the men and women of the Airforce will blast those terrorists right to hell!

http://vimeo.com/72609411

Thank you, FightingFish. I loved that song when I first heard it and loved the sense of anticipation that it brought. Much later I saw this movie and the scene & the music fit like a glove. When I served in the US Army, a few Soldiers would refer to this movie, among others, and quote; "I love the smell of Napalm in the morning. It smells like... Victory." That was the 1980s and "war" was "The Cold War" except for Grenada and the movies.
I've since retired and have been thankful of the fact that most service members life is 99% Boredom and 1% unadulterated mindless fear. I had served alongside"adrenaline junkies" that paid little attention to what is required to be a Soldier and do their job, and want to be that mindless killing machine that Hollywood portrays of "The Infantryman". There is so much more that goes on behind the scenes that those that become disillusioned and lose interest. They have earned the name Badge Hunter.
Since WWII, the tanks, ships, planes and guns are the equipment that have allowed the American fighting men and women to "Assist" other nations. Sometimes it doesn't work out as intended. (School of America's, pre-1970 Iran, pre-Taliban/ alQaeda Mujahadeen, pre-1990 Iraq) Sometimes it does. Post 1945 Europe and Japan. 2003; WMD in Iraq. Then "NO" now "Yes; here is the evidence. Sorry it was suppressed. lol"
For the best part; the US is there to protect our citizens and the nation. When our allies and other nations need assistance we are always there, it seams. Recall the December 25 Sunami? I recall a photo of a Marine helicopter crew off loading supplies. What was amazing was a boy wearing a t shirt with bin Laden's picture on it. We also assisted Bosnians when they were getting killed in their own country, just because they were Muslim.
So... Thank You for your appreciation and comments. My fellow service members like a pat on the back, who doesn't. ISIS is not down yet, so no victory dances. lol

fightingfish wrote:Well, some people here on the board maybe know that I really adore the USA and as I watched this video the heroic fight of the USA Airforce against ISIS in Kobane came into my mind!
They stopped ISIS and I know the men and women of the Airforce will blast those terrorists right to hell!

http://vimeo.com/72609411

Funny. I remember when Apocalypse Now was regarded as an ANTI-war film. I can't see that clip without rooting for the Vietnamese. There they are in their village, minding their own business, tending their fields, sending their children to school - and along come Robert Duval and his chums to blast the crap out of them for no very good reason. Nice sound-track though.

Iraq/Syria/ISIS (or whatever they're calling themselves this week)? It will end badly. For everyone. And will probably carry on ending badly for a couple of decades.

Lomax wrote:Iraq/Syria/ISIS (or whatever they're calling themselves this week)? It will end badly. For everyone. And will probably carry on ending badly for a couple of decades.

When you have opposing mobs of violent religious psychos sitting on a huge reserve of a vital resource it always ends badly. The difference is if you get involved it ends slightly less badly, the resources keep flowing and the body count might be a little lower than it would've been if you just stood back and let them go at it.

@jadokast98

First off, I would like to express my utmost respect for you, because you served in the US Army!
You wrote: "When our allies and other nations need assistance we are always there!"
And that´s exactley why I adore the USA so much! Imagine a world without the USA, it would be a dark world full of dictators and terroristic regimes beause no one would be there who could stop them. For me America is the big strong friend you can always rely on and I´m grateful for that!

@Lomax
well, I only know this single scene and not the whole movie and it was not my intention to glorify war. I only tried to see the situation in Kobane with the eyes of the Kurds who are desperate and who know that if ISIS succeed in conquering their citiy they all will get murdered even their kids and old people and then as all hope seems to be lost, the US Airforce suddenly shows up to the scene and stops the terrorists! And in my opinion this movie scene illustrates this perfectley.

fightingfish wrote:@Lomax
well, I only know this single scene and not the whole movie and it was not my intention to glorify war. I only tried to see the situation in Kobane with the eyes of the Kurds who are desperate and who know that if ISIS succeed in conquering their citiy they all will get murdered even their kids and old people and then as all hope seems to be lost, the US Airforce suddenly shows up to the scene and stops the terrorists! And in my opinion this movie scene illustrates this perfectly.

Well yes, indeed. But ISIS are the people who, a year or so ago, the West seriously considered arming to help them in their struggle against President Assad - the chap who was using chemical weapons on them. Now, Bashar al-Assad is undoubtedly a nasty piece of work, who in a perfect world should be locked in a small oubliette underneath Krak des Chevaliers. But we don't live in a perfect world; and now we might have to help Assad deal with ISIS.

Much like Saddam Hussein - another nasty piece of work who was free with the chemicals. So he was overthrown; and a US/UK/etc occupation force spent ten years pacifying/rebuilding/enlightening the country. And how stable is Iraq now?

No, I don't pretend that I know any of the answers - and I accept that Pragmatism and Realpolitik outrank Idealism and wild dreams of Utopia. But the failure of all sorts of governments to think things through; and the tendency for actions carried out with the best of intentions to have unforeseen and distressing consequences... Will the US still be bombing in a year? Two years? Ten years?

I will say with certainty that the last thing we should be doing is just giving either side guns to fight with. When it comes to these people today's 'freedom fighters' always end up being tomorrow's terrorists. ISIS is a perfect example. Most of them are the same people we were cheering for just a few months ago when they were trying to overthrow Syria. Yea they turned out to be a nice bunch of guys.