Originally Posted by
Heathrow Harry
A Greek colleague of mine who does a lot of work in the Middle East was chatting on Wednesday and musing on the fact that we think nothing of shipping ten thousand people a day to/from Sharm el Sheikh for their hols, that you can get anywhere in the world in 48 hours and with modern comms & media the whole world can listen to Western music, see western fashion, watch western TV & movies...
and then we're really surprised/astounded/appalled when they all turn up on the doorstep or when their problems become ours
Iindeed. It's related to one of the old "Murphy's Laws of Combat" which is "tracers work both ways."
Originally Posted by
Jayand
Article 5? Are they taking the piss? Where was NATO when the IRA were bombing london?
The British Government didn't ask for Art 5, as they felt it was an internal problem and that they'd sort it out. Also, during the Cold War it was a different political climate in general.
Pontius Navigator has a better take on this than most:
This is asymmetric warfare on a regional scale. Pretty clearly there is State ssponsorship but no one seems to want to name names.
They need lines of communication to pass people in and out. They need weapons; they need ammunition; they need food and water. Supplies siezed from Assad forces and Iraq are not inexhaustible. Resupply has to come from another State. The traditional suppliers, Russia and Iran are on the other side.
find out who is funding them and apply the squeeze. Also, EXPOSE them, even if they are an ally or trading partner.
As Pontius points out, this is war of a kind a great many people really don't understand.