[Bobboau]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/sas-special-forces-forming-hunter-4097083

[Grizzly]

Not sure if mirror is entirely trustworthy.

Weird development that IS is making NATO, Iran, and the PKK unite against common enemy.

[Mr. Vega]

Just let Iran kick their ass.

[Black Wolf]

This is the only sensible strategy against IS as it exists right now. Train and equip the Kurds, send in special forces and back then both up with punishing air power. The Islamic State is about to learn the same lesson that the Taliban did in 2001 - when you are a state, with a conventional army and territory to defend, then professional, well equipped western militaries will utterly destroy you. All that technology and firepower that was relegated to uselessness against an insurgency is really, really good when deployed against an enemy nation, and the West had learned is lesson (for now) about the kind of massive ground invasions that asymmetric tactics work well against. IS are going to bleed dry very quickly, I suspect. Won't do much to stabilize Iraq, but it will stop this particular splinter from doing to much damage in the long term.

[Bobboau]

Not sure if mirror is entirely trustworthy.

Weird development that IS is making NATO, Iran, and the PKK unite against common enemy.

you forgot Asad.

[Flipside]

Problem is the inevitable march towards stuff like this :-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28923689

To sum it up, Boris Johnson believes that we should adopt a stance of 'Guilty until proven innocent' for any British person currently in Iraq or Syria.

I wonder, does this also apply to reporters, aid-workers etc?

[Dragon]

This is overreacting, those people certainly need to be monitored. Those who go there are either terrorists or targets, close surveillance would help weed out the former and protect the latter.
And of course, anyone who allies themselves with the IS should lose their citizenship and/or be arrested the moment they try to leave. There can be no quarter for those Wahhabi nuts. Islamic State needs to be crushed before it spreads. You know it's bad when Iran is willing to work with NATO against them.

[MP-Ryan]

This is the only sensible strategy against IS as it exists right now. Train and equip the Kurds, send in special forces and back then both up with punishing air power. The Islamic State is about to learn the same lesson that the Taliban did in 2001 - when you are a state, with a conventional army and territory to defend, then professional, well equipped western militaries will utterly destroy you. All that technology and firepower that was relegated to uselessness against an insurgency is really, really good when deployed against an enemy nation, and the West had learned is lesson (for now) about the kind of massive ground invasions that asymmetric tactics work well against. IS are going to bleed dry very quickly, I suspect. Won't do much to stabilize Iraq, but it will stop this particular splinter from doing to much damage in the long term.

Took the words right out of my head.  And unlike certain other situations where Western nations have trained and equipped forces in the Middle East, doing so with the Kurds is unlikely to backfire.  They're wanted their own country for ages anyway, and don't seem to particularly care about foreign nations.

[Bobboau]

...

just wanted to point out that Briton is not alone

[Dragon]

This is weird, though. Why people from rich, modern countries would ally themselves with such scum? Even children of Muslims coming from those areas should know better than to help mass murderers. No matter how literally you take Koran (which Wahhabists are rather bad about), there's nothing there that could justify what happens in Islamic State. One would think that Muslims from Britain in Norway are educated enough to figure that out...

[Bobboau]

doesn't surprise me at all. It's gods will after all. If there were a literal crusade going on somewhere in the world I can totally see a **** tone of rich fat self-righteous Americans going off to fight for god.

[Mr. Vega]

I'm sure to them it's like the Spanish Civil War was to us.

[Bobboau]

/*spends five minutes researching it*/
yeah, except more personal/cultural, and less national.

[Grizzly]

I'd say that the Spanish civil war was still very personal and cultural, as it's basically a "clash of ideologies". Although it did later have implications on a worldwide scale (for example, a decent amount of people supported hitler because they thought he was an "the end justify the means" solution to the communists - in part due to the atrocities committed by the communists during the spanish civil war, such as slaughtering a whole lot of christians).

[Col.Hornet]

That whole situation reminds me of Afghanistan in 80's. Mujahedins which were used as a helpful tool to beat the Soviets broke the leash and started to act on their own. The same thing is happening today. Terrorists once used to overthrow al- Assad's government considered that they are strong enough to spread their sick ideas without consequences.

Personally I'm glad that US didn't manage to attack the Assad, because it's possible that IS would rule all across the country. So I wish the boys from Syrian Arab Army all the best and also the US pilots to drop all their payload accurately.

As for the terrorists from Europe fighting for ISIS. Such people should be banished and lose their citizenship automatically. And expelled if they somehow manage to return. We don't need bandits.

[Grizzly]

As for the terrorists from Europe fighting for ISIS. Such people should be banished and lose their citizenship automatically. And expelled if they somehow manage to return. We don't need bandits.

The Netherlands (and possibly other nations as well) already have laws in place that state that as soon as someone fights for a foreign power he automatically looses citizenship.

[The E]

As for the terrorists from Europe fighting for ISIS. Such people should be banished and lose their citizenship automatically. And expelled if they somehow manage to return. We don't need bandits.

I wonder about the legal theory behind this. Is this loss of citizenship automatic? I. e. would a dutch person enlisting in the Foreign Legion automatically lose his citizenship? What about someone who commits a crime in a foreign country? Do they get their citizenships revoked too?

[Dragon]

Assuming the Foreign Legion doesn't have any special legal status (IIRC, it's legally considered a mercenary unit permanently on French payroll, so it might be more like being hired in another country), then most likely yes. Countries in general don't like their citizens joining the armed forces of other countries. As for crimes, I think they're usually judged by the laws of the country they were committed in, though the precise procedure varies. IS case is somewhat special, in that they are not even recognized as a state, but are very much in control of a whole lot of the territory they claim.

Personally I'm glad that US didn't manage to attack the Assad, because it's possible that IS would rule all across the country. So I wish the boys from Syrian Arab Army all the best and also the US pilots to drop all their payload accurately.

Just to remind you, Assad is only a little bit better than ISIS, what with chemical weapon use and everything... Though Syrian rebels aren't fond of ISIS, either, so I don't think that even if Assad was removed, it'd make ISIS takeover any easier. ISIS aren't the only monsters in the area, they're merely the most heinous.

[The E]

Assuming the Foreign Legion doesn't have any special legal status (IIRC, it's legally considered a mercenary unit permanently on French payroll, so it might be more like being hired in another country), then most likely yes. Countries in general don't like their citizens joining the armed forces of other countries. As for crimes, I think they're usually judged by the laws of the country they were committed in, though the precise procedure varies. IS case is somewhat special, in that they are not even recognized as a state, but are very much in control of a whole lot of the territory they claim.

The point I was trying to make is that joining a foreign military (provided said military lets you join) isn't a crime. It's not a violation of (in this case, Dutch) territorial integrity, it's not a crime against Dutch national or private interests per se, so what is the legal theory that allows the revocation of citizenship here, and why isn't that same theory used to revoke the citizenship of criminals with a dutch passport?

[Col.Hornet]

Dragon:
Yes, Assad possessed the chemical weapons but remember that is still not clear who launched the gas in Damascus last year. That's a different topic to discuss.
In the beginning of the conflict the rebels were really Syrians but in a short time the country was flooded by jihadist scum which came to Syria just tu murder, rape and plunder. In the meantime of course they destroyed the secular part of the opposition. What the media call "Syrian rebels" is almost no more Syrian. And I highly doubt that they fight to make the lives of the Syrians better. Imagine what could happen with Assad overthrown, army crushed and country totally disorganised with an ISIL on a doorstep. In my opinion Assad is the lesser evil. A necessary one. He will prevail or we will hear about more Christians and other non Muslim or not radical enough Muslim people slaughtered.

E:
 Each country may have a different attitude towards mercenaries and people who serve in foreign armies. In Poland for example if you leave the country and join (without permission of the authorities) a different military or mercenary organisation and return to the country, you will go to jail (from 6 months to 8 years). if you commit a crime abroad you will be judged in the country where the crime took place. But sometimes there are examples when the criminals are being deported back to Poland to be sentenced. But there is a huge difference between committing a common crimes and fighting among well organised terrorists with litres of blood on their hands.

In case of ISIL, people who fought for it should be banished because of a simple thing. They are dangerous freaks (what kind of a sane person joins the jihadists?). In case of such people's return deportation is the best option in my opinion. Holding such people in prisons can be also harmful. They can spread their propaganda among other prisoners and create a potential threat in the future ("if we succeeded in Syria, why not do the same thing in Europe?")