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| Iraq |
| ISIS Advances Despite Air Strikes |
| 2014-08-10 |
| [FoxNews] The Islamic militants reportedly expanded their drive near Iraqi Kurdistan Saturday despite two U.S. airstrikes aimed at mortar positions and a seven-vehicle convoy to stop the advance on Kurdish capital of Irbil. The Wall Street Journal reported that the militants appear to have their sights on connecting towns seized along the Kurdish-control territory. The most recent town to be seized was identified as Sheikhan. News of the advance comes hours after U.S. warplanes launched two more rounds of airstrikes against Islamic militants in northern Iraq, taking out two mortar positions and a seven-vehicle convoy. President Obama authorized the use of force to protect U.S. personnel and Iraqi religious minorities facing a possible "genocide." The chief spokesman for the Pentagon, Rear Adm. John Kirby, said the U.S. launched the latest airstrikes to help defend the city of Irbil, where U.S. personnel are "assisting the government of Iraq." The airstrikes were considered successful. Senior military officials said the planes in this round of strikes, like those in the first, were launched from the USS George HW Bush in the Persian Gulf. A drone took off from an undisclosed land base and used hellfire missiles to strike its targets. One Defense Department official summed up the one airstrike in The New York Times, saying, "you know that vehicle and the people in it don't exist anymore." Fine, now tell us about the bigger picture, dear state department official? |
| Posted by:Thineng Angailet7166 |
| #8 According to sources, the threat posed by ISIL is significant enough to create some ODD bedfellows in the air offensive against ISIL. The Turkish Air Forces has admitted to conducting air strikes against ISIL. The Iranian Air Force has been seen conducting air operations against ISIL, some of the new SU-25s purchased by Iraq from Russia are being flown by Russians and of course we have our guys conducting an occasional mortar, towed artillery, or armored vehicles. So with that strange mix, there is an admission that ISIL is very dangerous. |
| Posted by: Bill Clinton 2014-08-10 22:37 |
| #6 Um. If the bad guys can still advance, you're not killing enough of them. Besides, I thought the standard was "just muscular enough not to get mocked"? |
| Posted by: RandomJD 2014-08-10 13:58 |
| #5 I'll think we are doing something when I see a scene like that in Gulf War I, that is the road to Baghdad littered with destroyed equipment (our equipment btw) and dead ISIL militants. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2014-08-10 10:56 |
| #4 ISIS Advances Despite Pinprick Air Strikes Two mortars and a truck? Really? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2014-08-10 10:24 |
| #3 The airstrikes are nothing more than optics for his base. He has no intention of stopping ISIS for developing their own nation. For crying out loud, he was raised a Muslim, he has his roots there. Stopping the caliphate to a muslim is like giving Israel back to the arabs for us. He cant and wont do it... |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2014-08-10 10:19 |
| #2 Insufficient action. Playing to the press and ignoring the reality on the ground. What's needed is continuous, broad strikes across the entire region. Otherwise, we may as well be using water balloons. This president is an idiot if he believes such limited tactical measures will have any tangible results overall. God help the Kurds and all those with them, because it looks like we sure aren't going to do much of anything. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2014-08-10 08:55 |
| #1 Thineng Angailet7166, your comment literally sent a shiver up my spine. That dear had very large, sharp teeth bared in it. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2014-08-10 07:24 |