Does This Idea Seem Nuts? Petraeus: Use Al Quada Fighters To Beat ISIS. Say What!?

2015-09-01T22:40:54-04:00

Members of al Qaeda’s branch in Syria have a surprising advocate in the corridors of American power: retired Army general and former CIA Director David Petraeus.

The former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan has been quietly urging U.S. officials to consider using so-called moderate members of al Qaeda’s Nusra Front to fight ISIS in Syria, four sources familiar with the conversations, including one person who spoke to Petraeus directly, told The Daily Beast.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/31/petraeus-use-al-qaeda-fighters-to-beat-isis.html

Petraeus: Use Al Qaeda Fighters to Beat ISIS

To take down the so-called Islamic State in Syria, the influential former head of the CIA wants to co-opt jihadists from America’s arch foe.

Response by Cpl Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 1 at 2015 10:57 PM

2015-09-01T22:57:20-04:00

Deja Vu! Use the Mujaheddin and Bin Laden to fight the soviets. See how that worked for us!

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Sep 1 at 2015 11:17 PM

2015-09-01T23:17:44-04:00

Not in the Least. Always the best way get others to fight your battles then come in and clean up what is left. Oldest trick in the Book. Pretty much what the USSR and we did during the Cold War Fought through 3rd Parties.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 2 at 2015 12:03 AM

2015-09-02T00:03:38-04:00

It’s the old adage “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”. So, what are the chances this will backfire? Here we go again. Sometimes I wonder if anybody learns from history.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 2 at 2015 9:48 AM

2015-09-02T09:48:41-04:00

Yep, that sure is a brilliant idea......sheesh.

Response by SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. made Sep 2 at 2015 12:25 PM

2015-09-02T12:25:55-04:00

I'm sure much nuttyer things have been tried in the Middle-east.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Sep 2 at 2015 12:48 PM

2015-09-02T12:48:16-04:00

How many Al Qaeda fighters exist? ISIS is estimated at 30,000-100,000.

Response by SSG Warren Swan made Sep 2 at 2015 2:14 PM

2015-09-02T14:14:56-04:00

It may seem weird and very odd, but every government does it. We've done it many times to further "our" agenda, so this doesn't seem very far off.

Response by SGT David T. made Sep 3 at 2015 2:05 PM

2015-09-03T14:05:54-04:00

We know we can handle Al Qaeda, but ISIS is something else entirely. I see the merits in his line of thinking. It kind of reminds me how Patton advocated using the German army to fight the Russians. It also can dry up a potential pool of ISIS recruits. Chances are we will not see this happen but it is an interesting thought experiment.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 7 at 2015 1:27 AM

2015-09-07T01:27:39-04:00

There's absolutely no way this could go wrong and back fire. Nope, not like there's any lessons history can give us that might shed some light on how this might play out.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 23 at 2016 7:34 PM

2016-04-23T19:34:55-04:00

Yes I can agree with this sometimes you gotta make deals with the devil to win a battle.