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| Iraq |
| U.S. warplanes and drone carry out 2nd round of attacks in Iraq |
| 2014-08-09 |
| [LATIMES] The U.S. military carried out a second round of air attacks on snuffies in northern Iraq on Friday, using an armed drone and four warplanes to bomb artillery positions and a vehicle convoy near the beleaguered city of Irbil, the Pentagon said. Irbil is the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan... A missile launched by a U.S. drone struck a mortar position outside the city in late afternoon local time, Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon front man, said in a statement. Still doiong "surgical" instead of "shock and awe"... When fighters with the myrmidon Islamic State group returned to the site moments later, "the snuffies were attacked again and successfully eliminated," Kirby said. A little over an hour later, four F/A-18 fighter jets bombed a convoy of seven vehicles and a mortar position, he said. "The aircraft executed two planned passes. On both runs, each aircraft dropped one laser-guided bomb, making a total of eight bombs dropped on target, neutralizing the mortar and convoy," Kirby said. The attacks followed a U.S. airstrike earlier in the day in which two F/A-18 fighters dropped 500-pound laser-guided bombs on a "mobile artillery piece" being used by the militants. The Pentagon provided no details on how many militants were killed or wounded in the attacks. It was the first major U.S. military action in the country since combat troops left three years ago. Militants of the Islamic State have been advancing toward Irbil, the Kurdish regional capital where thousands of Iraqis have sought sanctuary from the breakaway Al Qaeda group. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #18 Need to concentrate on what's important here: Were they Super Hornets?...with biofuel? Seems to me these jihadi all stars have dropped everything in order to participate in the dream of islamic platypus, they have burned their passports and have tasted victory and submissiveness and blood. I don't think there is an off switch; much like paleos vs. Israel; only political delays. And like the paleos, these guys are going to use grandma and the grandkids (women enslaved, men murdered remember) tied to artillery and riding in trucks, as someone else mentioned today - tied to the trucks - and they will film it and distribute. So what do we have to steel ourselves as a people to prepare ourselves to watch grandma and the kids be killed in order to kill the bad guys? Our CinC-O is hitting the links...which is fine, he seems totally incoherant. Is the Big Secret that a number of this ISIL troops are US trained and equipped? I saw one of their highlight flicks and saw US rifles, unusual for rabble isn't it? Or is this the plan? In exchange for Iran putting on nice face, they get east Iraq protectorate, west Iraq goes to the Platypus, and the Kurds, well its against the law and stuff to supply them without first going through Baghdad, soo, good luck? |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2014-08-09 20:00 |
| #17 @#5 P2K, as of 5/8/14, Congress told the Air Farce that it is not allowed to retire the A-10 until the U.S. Comptroller General does a study on the suitability of the proposed replacement(s) for the CAS role. |
| Posted by: Chantry 2014-08-09 18:28 |
| #16 What will the Champ do then ? I'm sure State is working on the appropriate hashtag even as we speak. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2014-08-09 15:32 |
| #15 The regime's surgical bombing of convoys and mortar pits is all very media worthy. What won't be media worthy will be indigenous women and children tied to the turrets of ISIS tanks or the bonnet of ISIS Toyota trucks. What will the Champ do then ? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-08-09 14:35 |
| #14 a little "wetwork" on Qatari leadership might make them a little more hesitant |
| Posted by: Frank G on the road 2014-08-09 13:58 |
| #13 Army takes too long to get 'ready'. Marines are (mostly) ready now. Give the Marines sixty days to clear the hot spots (without some pansy ROE or JAG support). Army will be ready by then to clean out the rest. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2014-08-09 13:29 |
| #12 ISIS is allied with the old Saddam loyalists that formed the core of the former Iraqi army. They were no great shakes as a fighting force, but they certainly know how to operate "real military" equipment. Qatar still has a lot to answer for when it comes to financing these crazies, though. Even if we shut off the Qatari money flow, ISIS is now self-financing from looting all those captured banks. ISIS and the Baathists is a Sunni marriage of convenience that could come apart at some point. The biggest long-range threat to peace in the Middle East is still Iran with its missile program and nuclear ambitions. Qatar and its minions are not at that threat level by a long ways. |
| Posted by: Odysseus 2014-08-09 13:22 |
| #11 Give those convoys the Road of Death treatment: bombing followed by A-10 chain gun runs down the line. |
| Posted by: KBK 2014-08-09 12:50 |
| #10 I remember that somewhat... was it an aspirin factory or a baby formula factory, or baby duck hatchery... (seeing our press now make asses of themselves in the opposite direction of what they did then) |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2014-08-09 12:45 |
| #9 This is like Clinton bombing Sudan in 1996. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-08-09 12:15 |
| #8 Knocking our "A MORTAR POSITION" is just pissing on a bonfire. When is he going to go all in on the air interdiction? Or does he think a couple of drones and a squadron of F-18s can do it? Seems he is ducking and dodging the reality of the consequences of his stupid decision to pull troops from Iraq in the first place. Hell, 10,000 of our troops, with our artillery, and firepower could run ISIL into the Caspian Sea if we wanted. Our Army in the field is a killing machine and had we stayed none of this would be happening. |
| Posted by: Bill Clinton 2014-08-09 12:00 |
| #7 Besides which, besoeker, he's completely wrong, of course. 10,000 troops still there implies a lot more - US trainers/coordinators with Iraqi military units, a lever on Maliki, etc. What a pathetic, surreal shadow of itself the US has become, seemingly overnight. 100% self-inflicted degradation. |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2014-08-09 11:52 |
| #6 I just listened to a clip of Champ saying "10,000 U.S. troops in Iraq would have likely not prevented what we see ISIS doing today." [paraphrasing as best as I can remember his exact words] I wonder what the dull, indolent fok thinks "10,000 U.S. troops" as a stay behind force in Afghanistan will be able to accomplish? Does he actually proof read these bits of verbal diarrhea ? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-08-09 09:21 |
| #5 ..you mean the A-10s the Air Force leadership is/has retired? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2014-08-09 08:56 |
| #4 2S1 SP 122mm. ISIS is operating armor and "real military" equipment. Someone has paid money to train these people. True no doubt, and it was likely the U.S. taxpayer. It is also likely that at least a few of these people had former service in the Iraqi army, or other armies...even our own. Drones and bombing sorties targeting convoys and fixed positions are much the same methodology used in AFG. The other leg of the failed strategy is/was the JPEL [Joint Priority Effects List}. Think FBI's 10 most wanted multiplied by several hundred. Any JPEL effort requires an extensive intelligence support and documentation effort. The JPEL strategy in Iraq is long over and is a start-over that likely won't happen. Champ definitely does not wish to recreate another roster of detained Islamic militants. What we are seeing from the regime is an entirely notional and short-term effort intended to combat the media coverage of Champ's doing nothing at all. A serious effort would be the arming of the Kurds or the re-opening of easily defendable FOB Speicher [Al Sahra Airfield near Tikrit], from which you could control the entire northern region of the Iraq with A-10's or Apache helo's. By the way, Speicher would have been an ideal launch or re-fuel/re-arm platform for attacks deep into Iran. It's closure provided a clear signal of the regimes future intent toward Iranian nuclear development effort. Champ's focus is the reshaping of America. He has no regard for the leaders of AFG, Iraq, or Turkey. They can only detract from his primary domestic, socialist mission. Just my armchair assessment. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-08-09 08:42 |
| #3 2S1 SP 122mm. ISIS is operating armor and "real military" equipment. Someone has paid money to train these people. Qatar has some questions to answer. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2014-08-09 06:16 |
| #2 Actually since we've got nobody on the ground why not use some fuel air explosives or a MOAB on the ISIL columns? It's not like they have any redeemable value. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2014-08-09 03:29 |
| #1 Should Israel send Lieberman to arrange ceasefire? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-08-09 02:15 |