The U.S. military is reporting that they have targeted several members of the Islamic State's external operations arm in recent weeks. Excerpts of an article in the Long War Journal. Over the past month weve killed 10 ISIL leadership figures with targeted airstrikes, including several external attack planners, some of whom are linked to the Paris attacks, US Army Colonel Steve Warren, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), said ... Warren named the external attack planners who are believed to be dead. One of them is Charaffe al Mouadan, who was struck down on Dec. 24.... Al Mouadan was a Syrian-based leader with a direct link to Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who has been identified as the Paris attack cell leader. ... Warren identified another member of the Islamic States external operations team as Abdul Qader Hakim, who was killed in an airstrike in Mosul on Dec. 26. Hakim was a facilitator for the caliphates international terrorist operations and also tied to the cell in Paris. Full article: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archi...es-external-attack-planners-in-airstrikes.php The full article gives more detail on these two deceased terrorists. How do you feel about the U.S./Coalition bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria?
I believe the air attacks are great. But to do the job we need infantry troops on the ground to back up the Special Forces.
I believe the air strikes are gradually having the desired effect of debilitating ISIS forces on the ground. I am sure the air support was crucial for the Iraqi forces that just retook Ramadi. I also sensed some desperation in the recent audio speech from the ISIS leader, al-Baghdadi, as he was basically begging the U.S. to send ground forces. So far, just about the only people (besides some resident minorities) that ISIS has been able to kill in Iraq and Syria are Muslims, which doesn't exactly make a great recruitment poster. If the U.S. backed Iraqi forces can move on and get another victory, like in Fallujah for example, we could hold out hope that we are seeing the beginning of the end for ISIS in Iraq. I understand your point about sending in the infantry, but it sure would be nice if the Iraqis could get it done on their own.
Funny you would mention that. U.S. Special Operation Forces like Army Special Forces, Navy Seals, etc. are dependent on the regular Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force to perform their missions while Army or Marine rifle battalions can operate independently and aren't dependent on Special Operations Forces.
