Derek 2.0

They have been since early summer when they captured Muthanna........as it's likely they have control of a portion of the Syrian arsenal, as made evident by their apparent use of mustard gas against Kurdish Forces several days ago.

A "failed state" that again is exporting oil, so much so that these Libyan exports (combined with increasing US production) will put further downward pressure on the price of oil....this of course will benefit Europe, which is the largest importer of Libyan oil.......of note, the oil is in control of the elected Government....

Yet, as I said above ~1/3rd of the price when you purchase gas is taxes.......rest assured, a Liberal, or NDP supported Liberals Government will bring in some form of carbon tax.....with gas taxes being low hanging fruit. As to "price gouging", that is hardly the case, it's market based pricing.......compared to the rest of the developed world, North America has it good.....if you don't like it, invest in an electric....or hybrid.....or smaller car....or a bike....or a bus pass etc........Oil companies, and in turn gas station franchise owners will charge what the market will pay....one thing is certain, going forward, the price of fuel will increase.

Indeed, there is political theory and political reality.......One is constitutive of how actual events unfold, the other looks good on paper.

And in other news: Contrasted with last Augusts 38 engine order for ~1 billion USD.... a fair decrease. Also of note: And rightly so.

I prefer the Raptor inspired Camaro....

I've no doubt JT will do something about gas taxes..........

Indeed, nearly 1/3rd the price the consumer pays for fuel in Canada is to a tax, be it Federal, Provincial or city.

A dictator ruled with a military and police service that received aide from the West........So, Saddam could keep tensions in check with Western aid, but the current Iraqi Government with Western aid can not. Saddam + Western aid = "stable Iraq" Present Iraq + Western aid = Chaos forever and a day.......... Got it What fueled the Iraq-Iran war? Already we have a war fought by proxy, a regional war is the next logical step if left unchecked. It's actually 8 combat planes.........none the less, there are far more than 8 Western combat aircraft in the region. Of course, the Iraqi army and Kurdish forces will be aided by Western air power, not hurt by it. As to ISIS, just with the start of allied air strikes, ISIS has already been forced to change tactics. I have in this and the several other related threads......Once ISIS is diminished as a conventional force, coupled with more unit level training and support for the Iraq and Kurdish forces, the elected Government will be able to contend with ISIS, with the background support(intell, air support, logistics etc) provided by the West.

So an Iraqi Government that once received support from the British, Russians, the French and the United States was able to keep a lid on Sunni/Shia/Kurdish tensions, but this Iraqi Government, receiving support from the United States, French, British etc won't be able to keep a lid on said tensions....... What do you feel the economic "blowback" would be from a regional Shia/Sunni/Kurdish/Turkish etc war, a war that would impede the flow of Persian Gulf oil, and in turn, the global economy?

There were no tensions between Shia and Sunnis before 2003?

What wars between nations in the region did we cause? The vacuum of US influence is what allowed ISIS to expand to the point that the Iraqi government was overwhelmed.........

Sure, and they were playing politics........I see the difference between what each party will do with "too much tax dollars"....

Has ISIS shown a willingness to sit at a table and talk this out?

As I said above, it has been nearly 25 years since the last time a Gulf State has invaded another Gulf State to a degree that threatens Middle Eastern oil exports...

Why not? A conservative forecast, that errors on the side of caution, seems only prudent........and I have no issue if they give most of it back to Canadian taxpayers......Far better then being 3x under I should think.

Our involvement has kept a lid on open warfare (in the Gulf) between varying states a reality since 1990......and has kept the oil flowing.

Has ISIS gotten a hold of some Iraqi Syrian Mustard Gas? I think, unlike Assad, threats of Western military action (combined with pressure from Putin/Russia) won't deter ISIS from using chemical weapons on other, larger populations.......If they have a largish arsenal of chemical weapons, this could will get very ugly....

Again, what would you predict if a regional war broke out in the Middle East? With that said, ~20 years out, the net effects of such a war could be less on the global economy........

Or conservative accountants, making worse case predictions, coupled with a boost in the Canadian economy attributed to US gains..........And I dully hope they return most of said surplus to Canadians.

So, in your mind, leaving ISIS, with the possibility of a much larger regional war between Shia/Sunni/Kurds/Turks etc, is the better option? And what would, in your view such chaos do to Middle East oil exports that the World economy is dependent upon?

And we know what worked and what didn't........American troops policing Iraqis........Frankly, post invasion, the biggest mistake the Americans made was the disbanding of the Iraqi army.

As are people that feel the allowance of the entire Middle East to lose the semblance of stability found there, and in turn, the follow on effects to the World's economy..........

The Turkish dynamic is far from unknown, and was made clear during the '03 invasion.......I'm surprised that they even allowed the Americans the use of their airbases to strike ISIS.......

ISIL/ISIS is apart of the disenfranchised Sunni population..........As to said video, if true, clearly there is no need for the rest of the World to donate any further food and medical aid than, and the locals have nothing to fear with the coming Winter... What do you hear? Frankly, America and friends won't publicly relay their detailed plans for combating ISIS, for what I feel, are obvious reasons.......As to the use of Apaches, that is not without risk, but over open ground and a night, can provide much needed direct fire support to the Iraqi forces. With ground troops, as to conventional forces, I disagree, but special forces supporting both the Iraqi army and Kurds, I'd be surprised if they were not already on the ground.