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Iraq air strikes: political theater

Discussion in 'News & Current Events' started by carpro, Aug 13, 2014.

  1. carpro

    carpro Well-Known Member
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    CNSNews.com) – With at least 15 targeted airstrikes so far, the U.S. military has “helped check the advance of ISIL forces” near Erbil – but the gains are just temporary, said Lt. General William Mayville, the director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

    “We assess that U.S. airstrikes in northern Iraq have slowed ISIL's operational tempo and temporarily disrupted their advances toward the province of Erbil. However, these strikes are unlikely to affect ISIL's overall capabilities or its operations in other areas of Iraq and Syria,” Mayville told a news conference on Monday.
     
  2. InTheLight

    InTheLight Well-Known Member
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    The other thing is that now that airstrikes are underway the ISIL forces are staying away from open desert areas and instead are melting into cities and towns and going undercover as insurgents.

    <SLAPS FOREHEAD> "I didn't see that coming", said Obama.
     
  3. Use of Time

    Use of Time Well-Known Member
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    Sorry man but I think that is highly unlikely. The IS are very much open in the current cities they occupy. They enforce the "caliphate" very proudly and publically and tout their flag openly. They have been training undercover insurgents and suicide bombers long before we started the airstrikes. Our intent with the airstrikes is simply to engage military equipment and curb the freedom of maneuver for IS troop conveys. The rest is up to the Kurds and the remaining IA that can be rallied by the new PM. We are essentially attempting to level the playing field.
     
    #3 Use of Time, Aug 13, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 13, 2014
  4. InTheLight

    InTheLight Well-Known Member
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    Islamic militant forces in northern Iraq appear to be shifting tactics in the face of the newly launched U.S. airstrike campaign, Defense officials say, posing a new challenge to the Obama administration as it seeks to at least slow the terrorists’ advances.

    According to officials, until now the Islamic State (IS) was behaving like a well-organized army, moving with strategic intent and pursuing military objectives. Now, officials are seeing at least a partial shift to classic insurgency tactics, as militants begin to blend in among the population, making targeting more difficult.

    “One of the things that we have seen with the [IS] forces is that where they have been in the open, they are now starting to dissipate and to hide amongst the people,” Lt. Gen. William Mayville Jr., director for operations with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said. “The targeting in this is going to become more difficult.”


    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...ng-tactics-complicating-us-airstrike-mission/
     
  5. Use of Time

    Use of Time Well-Known Member
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    Blending into the populace makes them harmless to us though. There are always going to be terrorists in Iraq but taking away their status as a loud and proud army was our goal from the get go. The airstrikes are proving effective if they have lost their heavy military equipment and lost their freedom of maneuver. They have simply reverted back to the state they were in before the rise of the IS. With that, you are going to see many of their members start to drift away as enforcing the caliphate is going to be tough to do from the shadows. Many members never wanted to join anyway but when the IS came steamrolling into town it behooved you to be with them rather than against them. Now we go back to using intelligence and special operations to bring down the high value targets in the organization cell. Sounds like their march towards Baghdad is on hold. That is a good thing.
     
  6. InTheLight

    InTheLight Well-Known Member
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    Agreed the march on Baghdad being on hold is a good thing. The reason why we're running airstrikes is because the IS forces were going to commit genocide against the people trapped on the mountaintop. We wanted to stop that and give them humanitarian aid. So ISIS disappears for a while. We stop the airstrikes. Suppose ISIS starts killing infidels on a house-by-house basis. That's slow genocide. Now what? Obama has stated we're not going to stand by and watch innocent people get slaughtered. Is he going to send troops in there? Or is he going to abandon the Kurds, like George Bush Sr. did in 1991?
     
  7. Use of Time

    Use of Time Well-Known Member
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    Exactly. I think the commitment to air strikes the next few months is going to buy some time while watching how the situation unfolds with the Kurds wanting to keep their autonomy and how willing they are to fight for it. I also think we are just buying time to see what the new Iraqi PM plans to do and if he has more success than Maliki. The airstrikes stop the movement, give the Iraqi Army a chance to regroup and let the Kurds go on the offensive for awhile. I'm with you though on inserting ourselves into a situation where the IS is able to sustain or resume their terror campagin. I guess it's just too early to tell at this point. IS will likely regroup and attempt to formulate a response to our involvment most likely in a violent way. The next four months or so will likely dictate whether we fully reinsert ourselves into Iraq. I'm praying that isn't the case.

    I've enjoyed discussing this with you. Appreciate you taking the time to respond factually and articulately.
     
    #7 Use of Time, Aug 13, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 13, 2014
  8. Bro. Curtis

    Bro. Curtis <img src =/curtis.gif>
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    If we are going to insert ourselves, it will have to be permanent. We know that, now. There's just no way to afford that, Iraq certainly doesn't want it.

    This is a horrible situation with no good answer. This is the fruits of 26 years of trying to fix Iraq.
     
  9. Use of Time

    Use of Time Well-Known Member
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    I don't think our scope of operations will be the same this go around. We would no longer have the nation building responsibility this time but yes we obviously are not going to be able to fix Iraq. I don't think this is about fixing Iraq though. I think this is simply minimizing the operational capacity of a gang of murdering extremists to give those that have been willing to show resistance a fighting chance. We'll just have to wait and see if that is enough right now. I certainly am not advocating for anything further.
     
  10. Magnetic Poles

    Magnetic Poles New Member

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    I forgot who said it, but the quote during the Bush Administration is true. Iraq is a china shop, and we broke it, so we bought it. I don't want a permanent US presence there, so maybe isolating them and monitoring them is the thing to do. This is a big mess, no doubt about it.
     
  11. InTheLight

    InTheLight Well-Known Member
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    Consider our post war presence in the countries that rebuilt themselves and re-joined the world community. We were there for decades, still are there: Japan, Germany, S. Korea, Kuwait. We should know by now we can't just pull up stakes and leave.
     
  12. Bro. Curtis

    Bro. Curtis <img src =/curtis.gif>
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    Those countries wanted us there, for the most part, and are not targets for terrorism from the local population.

    And we completely abandoned the Philippines, and they have not fared well in our absence.
     
  13. carpro

    carpro Well-Known Member
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    A case in point is the Nazi Werewolf guerrilla movement founded by Heinrich

    The occupation of Germany wasn't without opposition.

    Research the Nazi Werewolf guerrilla movement founded by Heinrich Himmler.

    And I agree. It was shameful the way we abandoned the Phillipines.
     
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