What the situation in the Middle East requires is less violence, not more. That goes for the U.S. and its allies, too. Some is necessary to tamp down the other side, but trying to wipe them out only makes them stronger. See Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, most of Africa.... We have to engage them in other ways besides bombing runs. Otherwise, we'll bomb the crap out of them and they will continue to kill people in public places. It will not end unless we change. "You can kill ten of our men for every one we kill of yours. But even at those odds, you will lose and we will win." Ho Chi Minh
The only thing these guys understand is strength. You aren't going to win them over by sending bouquets of flowers or trying to be Mr. Nice Guy to them like Obama. They view such niceties as signs of weakness. Thomas Jefferson understood this when he sent our warships over to North Africa to lay the smack down on the Barbary Pirates. As a related side note, I'm almost finished reading Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates, an exceptional book that I highly recommend. It's truly a shame that most Americans know so little about this fascinating piece of history.
I'm far from being an expert on any of this but it seems pretty clear that the people of ISIS do not want to negotiate but I think that some of that still needs to happen, even if it's through more moderate factions. Sure we all need to defend ourselves but it also seems clear that simplistic statements like "Bomb them back to the Stone Age" are unproductive and ineffective. Indiscriminant violent retaliation is just a recruiting tool. I think that kids from that culture have to have a viable alternative to joining that movement. If I ever figure out how to do that you'll know all about it because I'll be wicked famous. No one has really figured it out yet.
