[Richard T. Eger]

Dear All,

Since I first posted this question the world has become far more vulnerable, not only to ISIS and its sympathizers, but, at least here in the U.S., a constant drumbeat of increasing incivility. Our divides are both racial and religious and are growing more numerous in terms of outright armed attacks. In the rest of the world, it appears to me that the attacks are primarily religious in basis.

As for taking back land from ISIS, while it has been slow, we have had some notable gains by helping the local population counter ISIS. Thus, Sunni units of the Iraqi Army captured Fallujah. Yes, there was reporting of Shiite units committing atrocities against the local Fallujah population and I can only hope that this sort of behavior comes to an end. With the success at Fallujah, as Dan points out, Fallujah must be held and aid to rebuilding offered by the central government.

Next up is Mosul. With the success in Fallujah, the Iraqi Army has gained confidence that they are up to the task, which is very important for future success.

There remains Raqqa, which also must be taken with a minimum loss of life and, hopefully, using the same strategy. As I believe Colin Powell once stated, "If you break it, you own it". At least some of us have learned that lesson.

But, beyond these physical objectives, we also have an objective of winning "hearts and minds". I lived through the riots of the 60's here in the U.S. As far as I can tell, we are on the verge of repeating that, which is very depressing to me.

Today, the temperature in a small town in Kuwait tied the all time record at 129.2° F. This happens to be the only habitable planet we have. If we don't stop playing "king of the hill", we will rather soon be fighting over an ash heap. It boggles my mind just how stupid we can be. Ten lives have been lost in the last 24 hours in Munich, just the latest in a series of meaningless acts of terrorism.

Regards,
Richard