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| Iraq |
| Pentagon Scrubs Major Attack On ISIS |
| 2015-03-01 |
| [DailyBeast] The U.S. military's goal to retake Iraq's second largest city from the self-proclaimed 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 Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... has been pushed back several months at least, defense officials told The Daily Beast. That's a major shift for the Pentagon, which recently announced that the first major ground offensive in the war against ISIS could come in the next few weeks. Defense officials once hoped that Iraqi troops could move into djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... by the Spring and reclaim the city from ISIS. Now, those officials say, Fall is more realistic. And even that date was tenuous. "It is an Iraqi decision but we don't want to do anything until they are ready and can win decisively," a military official explained to the Daily Beast. "They cannot now." Since December, when U.S. officials first suggested a spring timeline, the Iraqi government repeatedly pushed back publicly, saying its forces were not ready. And yet U.S. officials kept suggesting such a campaign was possible. The CENTCOM briefing outraged many in Baghdad who felt pressured. In a televised address last week, Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled Obeidi would not confirm the proposed timeline, but rather rejected the U.S. decision to name specific months for an operation. "This is urban warfare and we have civilian populations. It is very important to take time and accuracy in setting the plan for this battle," Obeidi said. The more time you take to prepare, the more time your opponent has to prepare for you. Act decisively. Those civilians will likely not benefit from your delay. All the while, there were inside the Pentagon that launching a plan too soon could have long term adverse affects on their seven-month air campaign against ISIS. Translation: We don't have enough air support available to conduct a Mosul offensive and sustain the larger, ongoing air campaign. CENTCOM officials appeared eager to launch the campaign in anticipation of the summer and holy month of Ramadan, when troops would be fasting from sunrise and sunset, making such an offensive all but impossible. How about some good old fashiond common sense? Postpone the fast. What is more important, long-term victory or the temporary foregoing of a religious practice. But as criticism of that plan mounted, defense officials increasingly began stressing readiness and not timelines. Rather than an American-pushed spring offensive, officials stressed, it was an Iraqi-led operation that would be decided by the government there. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #13 politically framed, but King Reverse-Midas turns everything to shit and blames others or waves it away as a "distraction". Think about the accomplishments Queen Hillary can run on next year: Egypt? Libya/Benghazi? Russia? Syria? Iraq?.... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2015-03-01 15:37 |
| #12 I'll give you credit for the 'political theater.' Every move he makes is politically framed in one manner or another. His public affairs/relations apparatus is second to none. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2015-03-01 15:33 |
| #11 I'd like to think they are that clever Pappy. I would certainly like to think that, but I'm just not there yet. The briefing was given on the last day of (and at) Mr. Obama's " summit on violent extremism." The rump Iraqi government nor the Kurds were supposedly not briefed beforehand, yet their comments were quite mild. There were also no comments from the other members of the coalition. It's safe to surmise that this (much like the summit itself) was political theater. Likely it was also a test-balloon to see how it would be received by US domestic factions. My cynical opinion is that planning is being done and preparations are being made. However, most of this sturm und drang, for now, is for the US domestic political battlefield, and for the world's "muslim community" Mr. Obama seems so concerned about. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2015-03-01 15:30 |
| #10 Cant have shia officers commanding sunni troops on a old Soviet style army where there is no strong leadership from NCO's. Better to go to heavy armed territorial brigades. They would need arty and choppers and be fighting for their own homes. Set them up with ground support from a national air force and heavy reinforcement brigades. |
| Posted by: Jiggs White1864 2015-03-01 14:24 |
| #9 The Iraqi Army will never be ready - because it has been rebuiolt by Maliki and people like him. Our trainers ahnds were tied - and it takes a long time to root out the sort of bigotry, cultural rot, and corruption that the Shia Iraqis have embedded into their military and government. Even more importantly, it takes political will, something they do not have. Had we left a full brigade (reinforced) combat team, and a training brigade, and forced Maliki from office, at covert gunpoint if necessary, then they might have stood a chance for reforms to kick in while we are still there to squash things like ISIS (as well as reaching out to the Sunnis, which was the real success of the Surge). Obama's (And Sec State Clinton) failures have consequences, even if nobody in the press has the courage to call them out on it. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2015-03-01 14:16 |
| #8 We keep getting told the Iraqi Army is not yet prepared for the assault. |
| Posted by: newc 2015-03-01 14:03 |
| #7 How about some good old fashioned common sense? Postpone the fast. A bit of advise endorsed by none other than Mohammed himself. He was a master at breaking his own laws if it would get him a victory. As Old Mo' once said "If you find yourself in a fair fight, you're obviously doing something wrong." |
| Posted by: frozen al 2015-03-01 12:01 |
| #6 |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2015-03-01 11:56 |
| #5 Methinks the information release was more to test the US-domestic and non-Iraqi Arab markets, than an ill-advised decision. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2015-03-01 11:40 |
| #4 Tora Bora Mk. 2.3, deals,they must be made. Or wait long enough maybe the Yankees will do it. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2015-03-01 07:20 |
| #3 God forbid anyone give the kurds adequate artillery or any support whatsoever. Think we all know if that happened might upset the usual mid eastern shit with a viable straight thinking power in the region. |
| Posted by: chris 2015-03-01 04:17 |
| #2 Looks like someone that can actually assess readiness filed a report on the true condition and training of the Iraqi Army. Kurds would likely be ready but they are primarily light infantry - and still need artillery. And too few of them for a major offensive in an urban area. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2015-03-01 00:46 |
| #1 Well that will give you plenty of time to come up with a good plan and see if the enemy approves. |
| Posted by: chris 2015-03-01 00:31 |