More airstrikes in Syria
AFP reports that the US and it’s coalitions are targeting the Islamic State’s oil production capability in it’s latest round of strikes. I guess ISIS has been making about $3 million/day in that endeavor;
Of 15 air strikes in Syria, 12 were aimed at “degrading and destroying their oil producing, collecting, storage and transportation infrastructure,” the US Central Command said in a statement.
The jihadists control a swath of territory straddling northwestern Iraq and eastern Syria, home to most of Syria’s main oilfields.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that the Pentagon is settling in for a years-long fight in the region;
In his first public overview of the campaign he leads from the Florida headquarters of U.S. Central Command, Army Gen. Lloyd Austin cautioned against expecting quick progress. He said he cannot predict how long it will take to right a wobbly Iraqi army and build a viable opposition ground force in Syria.
“The campaign to destroy ISIL will take time, and there will be occasional setbacks along the way,” Austin told a Pentagon news conference, “particularly in these early stages of the campaign as we coach and mentor a force (in Iraq) that is actively working to regenerate capability after years of neglect and poor leadership.”
I guess the lessons of warfare from the last century are lost on this Pentagon and the politicians. The opening airstrikes of Desert Storm practically won the war because of the destructive force that was applied to the battlefield. It wasn’t pin-prick bombings like this one reported by AFP;
Another five [bombing attacks] west of the strategic Mosul Dam destroyed vehicles and damaged a building occupied by militants.
Oh, no! How will the ISIS fellows get to 7-11 in the morning for their coffee and crullers if their vehicles are destroyed?
Category: Terror War
So I guess these air strikes are just practice for the Big Stuff, maybe?
Well, at least the pilots are getting some flight time and target practice. That’s a good thing, isn’t it? 😉
We’re doing airstrikes in Syria? Who knew?
Meanwhile, the General opines, “The campaign to destroy ISIL will take time, and there will be occasional setbacks along the way,” Austin told a Pentagon news conference, “particularly in these early stages of the campaign as we coach and mentor a force (in Iraq) that is actively working to regenerate capability after years of neglect and poor leadership.”
“YEARS OF NEGLECT” he says. That would be 3 years to be more precise. Three years and by his definition they’re a “wobbly Iraqi army” now. What the hell they been doing these last 3 years, playing canasta? I bet there are M-16 there that haven’t been cleaned in 3 years. That I can believe. So all this is about, once again, training and equipping the Iraqis to do a job they weren’t willing to do before and have shown at every testing they have no guts to do now. Yea, this is gonna work out well for the U.S., yet again. Screw them, bomb the hell out of the whole place, after we evacuate all American personnel and then keep them bombed within their borders. I am tired of seeing body bags come home from Iraq!
Degrading the transportation infrastructure with air strikes in a 3rd world nation, eh? Well, for those of us old enough to remember, a few words should come to mind: “Barrel Roll”, “Steel Tiger”, “Tiger Hound”, “Commando Hunt”, and “Ho Chi Minh Trail”.
I kinda doubt I need to remind anyone here how well that worked out.