I'm all for bombing the hell out of ISIS, but can it be done w/o harming citizens?
Well look! How do you bomb ISIS without harming citizens when ISIS uses citizens as human shields? Impossible.
ISIS is killing citizens. Will the citizens be more dead if they are bombed by the allies?
We didn't ask for ISIS to go on the rampage and threaten the whole world with terror attacks. They started it and they make the no-rules. We either play by their rules or lay down arms and let them come after us.
War involves innocent deaths. That's a fact of life.
Consider a couple of things: Hitler set out to conquer the world. He bombed the hell out of countries and killed innocent citizens without a second thought by the hundreds of thousands.
The only way he was defeated was by bulldozing through country by country and killing the bastards wherever they could be found. If innocent people got in the way that was an unfortunate side effect of war.
Do you think the world would be a better place if only Hitler was killing innocent citizens and the allies backed off and let him go to it unchallenged?
Then consider the Atomic bombs dropped on the two Japanese cities. That killed one hell of a lot of innocent people but it also prevented future deaths and suffering and brought about peace for a good many years.
Yes it seems brutal but the Japanese would not stop fighting and they were forewarned of the devastation to come if they didn't stop.
Do you think the world would be a better place if the Japanese had been allowed to keep up their aggression?
I think the same scenarios are being played out today by the fight against ISIS. They will continue to grow in numbers and get stronger while the coalition dallies trying to spare innocent lives. In the end it will undoubtedly come to the same conclusion - crush them no matter what the means or the cost in human lives. How many millions will die needlessly and undeservedly before push comes to shove?
I happen to think it would save millions of lives in the long run to go after them in earnest now and get it over with.