Just a reminder:  13 years ago today the war in Afghanistan began…..for those that forgot and those that just do not care….

We have committed our military to continuing airstrikes and many nations have joined in the operation.  We are hitting them coming and going and the costs are raising quickly.  But just how effective are the airstrikes from the Us and its ‘coalition’?

The start of a new week brings not much in the way of encouraging ISIS news. The latest:

• The news: Kurdish fighters battling ISIS in northern Syria say the airstrikes aimed at the militants there haven’t done much to stop the group’s advance on Kobani. Kurds put ISIS’ position as within roughly a mile of the center of the city, which sits along the Turkish border. A rep for the Kurds explains to the Guardian that upon the approach of a jet, the fighters “scatter and hide. … Fighter jets simply cannot hit each and every ISIS fighter on the ground.” Though the Pentagon shares no specifics about strike locations, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that the areas around Kobani have been continually hit in recent days.

• The significance: The Guardian sees the Kurds’ assertion as one that will “unsettle those in the US-led coalition … who have signed up to an air war as the best way of taking the fight to ISIS.” As for why Kobani matters, it falls within the stretch of land that ISIS seeks to claim between its “capital” of Raqqa and the border with Turkey, notes CNN.
• The news: The New York Times today reports on what ISIS fighters are using to wage their battle: ammunition from America and other enemy nations of ISIS. The finding comes from Conflict Armament Research’s analysis of 1,730 cartridges found in Syria and Iraq—either sized by Kurdish fighters or gathered by CAR investigators. In the former country, most of the seized cartridges were manufactured in the 1970s and 1980s, most commonly in China. The cartridges found in Iraq were mostly of US origin, and manufactured in the 2000s. More than 80% of the ammunition was made in the US, China, post-Soviet Russia, and Serbia.
• The significance: Per the Times, the data “carries an implicit warning for policy makers and advocates of intervention. It suggests that ammunition transferred into Syria and Iraq to help stabilize governments has instead passed from the governments to the jihadists.”

If the airstrikes are ineffective why continue wasting valuable ordinance and money?

Maybe we should attack them by training those ‘moderate’ rebels to act on our behalf…..whatcha think?

An idiotic idea.  Why?

One, we have no earthly idea who the moderate rebels are…..or if they would be willing to be the hammer to ISIS nail.

Two, training….first, a joke at best…….and what are the chances of success with this idea?

The likelihood of Western training for the rebels comes two years and 10 months after General Sir David Richards, the then head of British military, put forward a plan to create an opposition force of 100,000 vetted volunteers.

The Independent revealed at the time how Gen Richards hosted a confidential meeting with the military chiefs of France, Turkey, Jordan, Qatar, the UAE and a three-star US general to formulate the strategy. The issue was discussed by the Obama administration which decided, however, against taking it forward.

In the intervening period the moderate groups and the FSA have lost influence, territory and members to the jihadists, primarily Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra, who received lavish funding from Qatar and Saudi Arabia – two of the countries now in the US-led coalition bombing the same groups.

Shifting alliances and interchange of fighters between the rebels  have made it extremely difficult to even determine who exactly is the enemy. Al-Nusra, hit by missile strikes from the US-led coalition, has been recently fighting against Isis alongside supposedly pro-Western groups. It is this “confused face of battle”, say Western military planners, which is making it harder to set up training facilities.

There you have the best proposal we have so far…..and training what more can we say…..a joke.  Then there is the best pinch line so far in this war……’moderate’ rebels….we would have a better chance of finding a T. Rex in Miami……..

Thgere are too many people buying into a scenario that cannot work for the better of the region….and is working against a further participation by the US to fix the problem we created.

Please, if anyone out there sees a recipe for success in this blind endeavor….pass it on!