The Islamic State overtakes Syrian Air Force base, captures fighter jets and more
08-26-2014, 09:01 AM
I don't know anything about their capabilities or what these jets are capable of, but I'll just throw some conjecture out there anyway. When people say they would get shot down by Western planes, do they mean that Western planes would literally be on them as soon as they took off?
ISIS may or may not be smart enough to pull this move, but if I were them, I wouldn't go for the obvious targets of Israel, U.S. bases, or even anything British, French or Russian. Obviously, those targets would likely be impossible, and also, regardless of anything else, those places still have some degree of martial spirit. Instead, I'd hope to sow maximum discord and have the most shock value by picking a lesser Western nation. Say, (suicide) bomb Vienna or Athens, or maybe somewhere like Naples. Stockholm would be perfect if they could reach it. Peel off the weakest members of the E.U. or N.A.T.O. where the population would immediately cave and put pressure on their governments to do so also, not those with the greatest willingness or capacity to fight.
The West has to think laterally like this, because ISIS would be mad to make a direct attack on anything American in particular. As war weary as Americans are, that would still be like prodding a hornets' nest. Any strike on America/Americans would galvanise America pretty quickly to go ballistic. No, the smart move would be to sow discord by hitting the soft underbelly of the West.
ISIS may or may not be smart enough to pull this move, but if I were them, I wouldn't go for the obvious targets of Israel, U.S. bases, or even anything British, French or Russian. Obviously, those targets would likely be impossible, and also, regardless of anything else, those places still have some degree of martial spirit. Instead, I'd hope to sow maximum discord and have the most shock value by picking a lesser Western nation. Say, (suicide) bomb Vienna or Athens, or maybe somewhere like Naples. Stockholm would be perfect if they could reach it. Peel off the weakest members of the E.U. or N.A.T.O. where the population would immediately cave and put pressure on their governments to do so also, not those with the greatest willingness or capacity to fight.
The West has to think laterally like this, because ISIS would be mad to make a direct attack on anything American in particular. As war weary as Americans are, that would still be like prodding a hornets' nest. Any strike on America/Americans would galvanise America pretty quickly to go ballistic. No, the smart move would be to sow discord by hitting the soft underbelly of the West.