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| Iraq | |||||
| Pentagon: Ordered deadly Iraq raid after "graves" were prepared for hostages | |||||
| 2015-10-24 | |||||
He reiterated that U.S. service members were in "advise and assist" roles, saying that the plan was not for American forces to enter the firefight. However, he later added, "This is combat, things are complicated."
One American was killed in the raid, the first U.S. service member to die in the ground fight against ISIS in Iraq. The Pentagon identified him as 39-year-old Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler of Roland, Oklahoma, and said his body would return to the U.S. Saturday.
Dozens of U.S. special operations troops and Iraqi forces raided the compound Thursday, killing and capturing a number of militants, and recovering what the Pentagon called a trove of valuable intelligence about the terrorist organization. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said the target of the raid was a prison near the town of Hawija and that the raid was undertaken at the request of the Kurdish Regional Government, the semi-autonomous body that governs the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. He said U.S. special operations forces supported what he called an Iraqi peshmerga rescue operation. The peshmerga are the Kurdish region's organized militia. The U.S. has worked closely with them in training and advising roles, but this was the first known instance of U.S. ground forces operating alongside Iraqi forces in combat since launching Operation Inherent Resolve last year. "This operation was deliberately planned and launched after receiving information that the hostages faced imminent mass execution," Cook said, adding later that it appeared the hostages faced death "perhaps within hours" and that freed hostages told authorities some had been killed at the prison recently, prior to the rescue. Cook said Secretary Carter approved the U.S. participation in the mission. Cook called it "consistent with our counter-ISIL effort to train, advise and assist Iraqi forces."
Cook said it was a "unique" circumstance for the American military in Iraq, although he would not say that it was the only time U.S. forces have engaged in a form of ground combat in Iraq as part of Operation Inherent Resolve. He said it was in keeping with the parameters of the U.S. military's role in Iraq. "They are allowed to defend themselves, and also defend partner forces, and to protect against the loss of innocent life," Cook said. "And that's what played out in this particular operation." In a separate statement, the Kurdish government said the operation lasted about two hours and was led by its counterterrorism forces, with support from coalition troops. It made no mention of intelligence indicating the captives were in imminent danger of being killed, as asserted by the Pentagon. The Kurdish statement said more than 20 ISIS fighters were killed in the operation about four miles north of Hawija. It said 69 hostages were freed, none of whom were Kurds, and it thanked the Americans for their bravery. The Islamic State group released a communique late Thursday dismissing what it called "a failed operation by the crusader coalition" since peshmerga fighters were not among the rescued hostages. The statement could not immediately be verified, but it was distributed on Twitter accounts with links to the group. Cook said four peshmerga soldiers were wounded.
"We just heard this from the media, we didn't know about it," General Tahsin Ibrahim Sadiq told Rooters. "It was just the peshmerga (Kurdish forces) and the Americans, and the Ministry of Defense didn't have any idea about that." Sadiq said ministry officials were meeting representatives of the U.S.-led coalition in Baghdad on Friday to learn more about the operation, the most significant raid against ISIS in months. Initial reports said Thursday's operation near the northern town of Hawija had freed Kurdish hostages, but officials later confirmed the detainees were Arabs, including around 20 members of the Iraqi security forces. The others were local residents and ISIS fighters that the group had accused of spying, said a U.S. official. It was not immediately clear why these particular hostages triggered a potentially risky rescue mission. Long-standing enmity between Arabs and Kurds, who aspire for greater autonomy in their northern region, have complicated efforts to unify the battle against ISIS turbans. During a recent visit to Iraq, U.S. Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called for changes to Iraq's fragmented security structure. The security forces are now divided, with different commanders speaking to the United States on behalf of Iraq's army, its militias, police and Kurdish peshmerga. A CIA front man declined to comment on the suggestion that the rescued hostages had connections to the U.S. government. | |||||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #9 The government of Iraq works for Iran now, they won't let anything that isn't Iranian or Russian led be a success. (For that matter, neither will Barky). |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2015-10-24 14:42 |
| #8 BINGO, #7 Frank. |
| Posted by: Barbara 2015-10-24 14:11 |
| #7 "We just heard this from the media, we didn't know about it," General Tahsin Ibrahim Sadiq told Rooters. "It was just the peshmerga (Kurdish forces) and the Americans, and the Ministry of Defense didn't have any idea about that." One of the factors in its success |
| Posted by: Frank G 2015-10-24 13:56 |
| #6 They were rescuing Christians, of course our commander in chief knew nothing about it. If he would have know he would have called it off!!! Great job by some great American hero's. I think this is the largest hostage rescue ever done by US forces. Well done and I will leave a shot at the bar for MSG Wheeler. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2015-10-24 13:33 |
| #5 Dawg hep me, it is times like this I wonder why we maintain tactical nukes. I know, wedding parties. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2015-10-24 12:18 |
| #4 Speculation I read was that Ashton Carter has decided since noone else wants the job and he can't be replaced, therefore he can't be fired so he's going to go ahead and fight the war. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2015-10-24 11:08 |
| #3 So, Baghdad knew nothing; the White House curiously "out of the loop." US media mildly alarmed. Nothing from the usual anti-war cabal (the weather is still tolerable in D.C. and it is the weekend.) No blather from the Turks, either. Curious. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2015-10-24 10:52 |
| #2 The Battle of Cassinga, Cassinga Raid or Kassinga Massacre was a controversial South African airborne attack on a South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) refugee camp and military base[4] at the former town of Cassinga, Angola on 4 May 1978. Conducted as one of the three major actions of Operation Reindeer during the South African Border War, it was the South African Army’s first major air assault. Link |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2015-10-24 08:47 |
| #1 i am proud of the USA spending your blood and treasure to do these good deeds. |
| Posted by: anon1 2015-10-24 08:35 |