I don't feel like voting this election

[1964Alum]

Originally Posted by Benzgirl

I guarantee that if Trump is elected President, ISIS and many others will try to attack us repeatedly.

Originally Posted by thetalady

I don't think that ISIS has EVER needed any justification whatsoever to attack the US or Europeans. I don't think it matters to them who our president is. They will attack us again, no matter who the POTUS is.

I disagree. Saber-rattling, carpet-bombing talk only adds fuel to the fire and creates a recruiting tool for them. Our administration right now is quietly taking out Isis primary leaders and disrupting plans without a single collateral victim. How would you feel if your parents or children were killed by US weapons? I doubt you would have much love for them. And find it very hard not to want to get back in some way.

Our misguided War in Iraq created a whole generation of Isis members and destabilized the entire Middle East, as many of us both lay and professional predicted. We are reaping the bitter harvest of that now. Will Isis be able to slip through our defenses and attack us or our allies again? Quite possibly. IMO we need to look at the big picture. We have already been spared many attacks. And as someone up-thread said, we have the collaboration of our allies. A POTUS who is not respected on the international stage will destabilize what is now in place.

[DubaiSis]

Just to correct and clarify a smidge, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Jordan and to a lesser extend Lebanon and Bahrain are stable. Yemen is stable but not in a way we like. Iran is stable but not in a way that American media like to discuss because it's easier to call them an evil empire than accept that they just don't run their government the same way we do. But their people are educated, fed and clothed, and I don't think there is any immediate threat of a coup.

Saudi Arabia continues to be a mess but that's internal and has little to do with us (except for us being complicit). Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey and Israel are unstable and fully the US' making. If you want to call Egypt Middle East, it is reasonably stable, but I wouldn't place bets on long term viability of any government. Maybe, maybe not.

Did I miss any? And please don't think of THE MIDDLE EAST as Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a big and peaceful place with minimal crime, great education, great food, great people and (mostly) fair governments. And any arguments against fairness needs to be compared to the atrocities the US government commits against its people.

[NWguy]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

Just to correct and clarify a smidge, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Jordan and to a lesser extend Lebanon and Bahrain are stable. Yemen is stable but not in a way we like. Iran is stable but not in a way that American media like to discuss because it's easier to call them an evil empire than accept that they just don't run their government the same way we do. But their people are educated, fed and clothed, and I don't think there is any immediate threat of a coup.

Saudi Arabia continues to be a mess but that's internal and has little to do with us (except for us being complicit). Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey and Israel are unstable and fully the US' making. If you want to call Egypt Middle East, it is reasonably stable, but I wouldn't place bets on long term viability of any government. Maybe, maybe not.

Did I miss any? And please don't think of THE MIDDLE EAST as Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a big and peaceful place with minimal crime, great education, great food, great people and (mostly) fair governments. And any arguments against fairness needs to be compared to the atrocities the US government commits against its people.

Unless you addressed Syria in a different post, that one is missing. And that's a big one, because so much activity in recent years and months has taken place in Syria.

[thetalady]

Originally Posted by 1964Alum

I disagree. Saber-rattling, carpet-bombing talk only adds fuel to the fire and creates a recruiting tool for them. Our administration right now is quietly taking out Isis primary leaders and disrupting plans without a single collateral victim. How would you feel if your parents or children were killed by US weapons? I doubt you would have much love for them. And find it very hard not to want to get back in some way.

Our misguided War in Iraq created a whole generation of Isis members and destabilized the entire Middle East, as many of us both lay and professional predicted. We are reaping the bitter harvest of that now. Will Isis be able to slip through our defenses and attack us or our allies again? Quite possibly. IMO we need to look at the big picture. We have already been spared many attacks. And as someone up-thread said, we have the collaboration of our allies. A POTUS who is not respected on the international stage will destabilize what is now in place.

So you don't think that Obama is respected on the international stage, or at lest within the Middle East? I don't see how we will ever have a president more sympathetic toward the Middle East & Muslims in general than Obama.