Good Morning
The US begins its seventh week performing airstrikes against ISIS targets………..An updated SITREP on the activities of the Coalition and the Islamic State……we enter into the second week of the coalition attacking ISIS positions and events related to the working of the coalition…….
Item 1–The Coalition has grown by three (3)……Denmark, France and UK have added their firepower to the collective…..
Item 2–So far the cost of the ISIS ops is about $7-10 million a day…..and that should increase as the size of the US force is expanded..
Item 3–Now the Right is having a field with comments made by Gen. Dempsey……..
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey refused to back down from last week’s comments on the possibility of US ground troops being involved in the open-ended war on ISIS, insisting today that he will recommend “what it takes” to destroy ISIS, even if that means ground troops.
The media has latched onto this statement like a Pitt Bull with a baby’s leg……I want to remind people that the prez makes that decision….NOT the generals. May I suggest that FOX, et al pick something else to concern the viewer over.
Item 4–We have been given a new player over which we should be concerned….according to the admin that is…….Khorasan……….billed by the admin as the Seal Team of AQ………..but there is more to this group…….
It’s puzzling for people in Syria, especially those affiliated with the rebellion, because none of them have ever heard of any such faction. Indeed, the evidence is increasingly that the US made it up.
“The name is clearly US-originated,” noted analyst Pieter van Ostaeyen, who says that the name had never been mentioned by any jihadist movements until the US started talking them up.
The question is……is this truly a separate group or just simply AQ? It worked well to terrify the public and maybe that was its use all along.
Item 5–As predicted before this major undertaking was began……..critics said it would serve as a recruitment tool and do very little stop the advance of ISIS………this report over the past weekend…………..
Syrian rebels say that the US airstrikes on ISIS inside Syria haven’t helped them. If you’re wondering who is benefiting, the answer could well be ISIS.
Since President Obama announced his intention to strike Syria on September 10, ISIS has gained more than 200 new fighters in Aleppo Province alone. That’s likely a drop in the bucket compared to what it did for recruitment in provinces where they have a larger presence.
Item 6–The airstrikes are helping ISIS make a change……not in desire….but rather in tactics…….
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Islamic State militants are changing tactics in the face of U.S. air strikes in northern Iraq, ditching conspicuous convoys in favor of motorcycles and planting their black flags on civilian homes, tribal sources and eyewitnesses say.
They reported fewer militant checkpoints to weed out “apostates” and less cell phone use since the air strikes intensified and more U.S. allies pledged to join the campaign that began in August, saying the militants had also split up to limit casualties.
A tribal sheikh from a village south of Kirkuk said Islamic State elements “abandoned one of their biggest headquarters in the village” when they heard the air strike campaign was likely to target their area.
Item 7–The US Congress has decided to waste more time and delay them having to vote on this war until after the lies have been delivered and the people have voted……..this is just ridiculous!
A handful of Republican members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee have gone off to Turkey to create their own “historic” coalition of rebel factions which pledged to attack both ISIS and the Assad government.
Led by Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R – IL) and George Holding (R – NC), the coalition was said to include “more than 20 Syrian rebel commanders,” though it appeared to be little more than the nominal leadership of the Free Syrian Army and the miniscule Syriac Military Council. The groups called on the US to expand their airstrikes beyond ISIS and al-Qaeda and against Assad’s military as well.
I end this briefing on a humorous note……..the US Congress……….do I need to say more?
Thanx for your attention and time…..further SITREPs will be issued as needed………
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