Sorry had to get a shout out to Parlement Funkadelic…..ah the good old days!

My readers know that I have a healthy curiosity about the Middle East and I do a lot of writing on the subject…….I have been a bit distracted by the games politicians are playing in the run up to the 2016 election……..but I need to do what I do…..

Meanwhile back in the Middle East and points East…….Al-Qaeda that bunch of heathens that caused the 9/11 attack……but first let’s step back to the 1980’s, Afghanistan…….the Russians have overrun the country and we Americans are funding the opposition, people like the Northern Alliance and…..you guessed it   Al-Qaeda.  That is right Irene we of the United States of America are partially responsible for the rise of AQ worldwide…..all in the name of fighting the Russians.  Was the price worth it?

In the last couple of months it seems that AQ and ISIS are not the best of friends even though their ideologies are similar……..

Source: The Battle of Extremists: ISIS Faces Off Against Al-Qaeda and Jaysh Al-Islam

About a month ago I wrote about the friction between AQ and ISIS……there have been incidents of them fighting each other for land and influence.  When that occurred I said then why not use this friction in the fight against ISIS….what is the old saying….”the enemy of my enemy is my friend”…..why not use it to the advantage we need to “degrade and destroy” ISIS.

Oh boy did I catch grief for that post.  There was lots of ranting and rambling about this group or that and the evil they both would bring to the table…..

The problem is that the coalition airstrikes are doing very little to curb the growing strength of ISIS……the Iraqi army is as ineffective as anything I have seen (that is our fault for the damn lame program of de-Bathification of the army)….the only success even if it is limited is that of the Kurds.  The problem there is that politics must be played in arming them with the Iraqi government that has a suspicious streak….all in all the whole strategy is a wash and will remain so as long as the plan remains the same.

It makes me smile to see after all the grief I took that someone sees the benefit of using AQ to fight and eventually destroy ISIS….

Now you want to ask…..who is that masked man, right?

The hero of the Surge in Iraq…Gen. Petraeus….that’s who!

Source: Petraeus: Use Al Qaeda Fighters to Beat ISIS – The Daily Beast

There is validity in his thoughts and thinking outside the box is what is needed if we are to “degrade and destroy” ISIS.  Petraeus should be listened to at this time….we can worry about the results of this fight later…….it may not end well but if ISIS can be “degraded and destroyed” is that not the end game in all this?

Either get serious about ISIS or bow the Hell out!