[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Fat chance without boots on the ground."

Yes, you are correct. There needs to be boots on the ground, however it does not have to be American boots on the ground. The Peshmerga and a hopefully re-constituted Iraqi Army can be those boots on the ground. We should have been arming the Peshmerga right away because they are one of our truest allies in the region.

As the article states, ISIL's supply lines are stretched and do I have to state the obvious here. They're in a freakin' desert!! There's nowhere to hide so ISIL is in the open a lot of time and with correct on the ground intel (Peshmerga and Iraqi troops), we can hit large portions of ISIL in the open. We still need U.S. special forces troops as a rapid reaction force to be on the ground to rescue any downed pilots or to act on intel to take out top leaders of ISIL in towns and cities.

[iontheball]

Good points. This ISIS group, however, has one common denominator with all the other groups waging war on humanity. They strictly follow the Koran's dictates. The only way this scrooge on civilization was suppressed in the Middle East in recent times was by brutal dictators. Gen Al-Sisi is the guy from which we can learn a lesson or two. He knows them well (I believe he is a Muslim but more a strong nationalist), he keeps a close eye on them, and he bans them from any governmental activity. Islam will always remain a threat to civilization because it possesses the potential for going viral unless Islam's followers are closely watched. The belief system is inimical to a free society. Not all Muslims follow the strict Islam ideology but they all remain ticking time bombs because of the totalitarian, one world caliphate teachings.