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| Terror Networks |
| U.S. Special Forces Chief: No Plan to Take IS 'Capital' |
| 2016-03-10 |
| [An Nahar] The commander of U.S. special operations said Tuesday that, while coalition forces have put the Islamic State group under pressure, there is no immediate battlefield plan to take its de facto capital. Briefing U.S. lawmakers in Washington, senior generals said the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition was working with local ground forces to isolate the group's Syrian stronghold in the city of Raqa. But General Joseph Votel, head of Special Operations Command, said this broad strategy does not yet amount to a plan to take Raqa, despite recent advances by U.S.-backed fighters grouped under the "Syrian Democratic Forces" banner. "There is currently not a plan," he said. Asked whether the coalition has a plan hold the city after it falls, he added: "I would say no, there is not a plan to hold Raqa." And, under questioning from the Senate Armed Services Committee, he admitted that the SDF force that the U.S.-led coalition relies upon for ground forces in the Raqa area is "probably about 80 percent" Kurdish. The coalition has been criticized for its over-reliance on Kurdish allies, who may struggle to win over civilians in a mainly Arab town like Raqa and are considered suspect by neighboring Turkey. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #11 Stalling is the bamer's plan. Of course the Pentagon has a plan; they have a plan for everything. What the general couldn't say was that the comander-in-chief lacks the will. |
| Posted by: Sven the pelter 2016-03-10 17:05 |
| #10 tl;dr: No plan for winning Sure they do. It's called "stall until January 2017." Not exactly 'winning' for the country, but it certainly doesn't hurt any post-presidency plans. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2016-03-10 16:24 |
| #9 They aren't planning to succeed so they plan to fail. Par for the course with Obumble. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2016-03-10 13:51 |
| #8 tl;dr: No plan for winning |
| Posted by: SteveS 2016-03-10 11:47 |
| #7 Or maybe Roman General Scipio Aemilianus Africanus' Carthage pacification program. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2016-03-10 08:56 |
| #6 Once Pencilneck recovers enough power he can modify his uncle's Hama pacification program as the Raqaa Rules. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2016-03-10 08:54 |
| #5 No worries, it's only a "de facto" capital./sarc |
| Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy 2016-03-10 08:37 |
| #4 Yep, this is what a real enemy capital looked like when you actually did wage war. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2016-03-10 08:30 |
| #3 How about a plan to bomb it flat? Give the local women and children 24 hours to evacuate. Oh that's right. George Patton died in 1945. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2016-03-10 08:08 |
| #2 Little need for SCUDs with agents in place. Would be showy though. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2016-03-10 02:24 |
| #1 "There is not a plan to hold Raqa" > One would think there would be given repor UK fears that the ISIS/ISL could strike London or other major British, EU Cities within range from Raqa via captured Iraqi-Syrian SCUDS armed wid Conventional, WMD, or "Dirty Nuke" warheads. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2016-03-10 01:48 |
