More than 1,700 bombs dropped in US-led air war
[ARABNEWS] US and allied aircraft have flown nearly 6,600 sorties in the air war against the IS group and dropped more than 1,700 bombs, the American military said Thursday.
The flights for "Operation Inherent Resolve" include thousands of mid-air fueling runs, surveillance sorties and 632 air strikes in Iraq and Syria, according to US Central Command.
The latest tally was released one month since the US-led coalition extended its air campaign from Iraq into Syria, in a bid to counter the advance of the IS men.
The effect of the open-ended air campaign remains the subject of debate, with the White House saying the snuffies have been damaged by the strikes and critics pointing to the group's battlefield successes despite the raids.
Coalition aircraft have targeted IS snuffies with more than 1,700 bombs and missiles since Aug. 8 in both Iraq and Syria, Central Command said in a statement.
Washington often stresses that a broad coalition is fighting the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
bully boys, but US aircraft have conducted the overwhelming majority of the strikes so far.
Out of 632 bombing raids, non-US coalition members, including four Arab states, carried out only 79 of the strikes, Central Command said.
In Iraq, aircraft from Australia, Belgium, Britannia, and the Netherlands have taken part in the strikes along with the US.
And in Syria, the Americans have been joined by combat aircraft from Bahrain, Jordan, Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
and the UAE, it said.
Posted by: Fred 2014-10-25 |