For several weeks now there has been a running battle in Iraq….Fallujah to be exact……the process has been slow but slow…..some say they are winning….I will not clarify that statement because everyone has their own opinion on this…all I can do is let you know what I know……
ISIS has had several setbacks or if you want defeats…..and that is good news right?
While the administration continues to publicly tout their progress in the ISIS war in both Iraq and Syria, claiming that the Islamists are suffering massive territorial losses and major defeats on the ground, a growing number of US officials are warning that the group isn’t at serious risk yet.
The comments in many ways mirror a recent UN report on the ISIS war, which similarly concluded that the “setbacks” they are suffering on the ground aren’t amounting to much, and that the group remains in a strong position regionally.
Is any of the so-called “successes” really gone to do any good?
President Barack Obama and some administration officials have hailed recent military gains against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, but other U.S. officials and outside experts warn that the U.S.-backed air and ground campaign is far from eradicating the radical Islamic group, and could even backfire.
While Islamic State’s defeats in Iraq and Syria have erased its image of invincibility, they threaten to give it greater legitimacy in the eyes of disaffected Sunni Muslims because Shi’ite and Kurdish fighters are a major part of the campaign, some U.S. intelligence officials argue.
A second danger, some U.S. officials said, is that as the group loses ground in the Iraqi city of Falluja and elsewhere, it will turn increasingly to less conventional military tactics and to directing and inspiring more attacks against “soft” targets in Europe, the United States and elsewhere.
Source: Gains against Islamic State not yet enough, could backfire: U.S. officials | Reuters
So just how would you think that the US will handle this Iraqi situation?
From “no boots on the ground” in Iraq to 4,100 US troops officially there, and 5,000 there by most realistic estimates, the US has added a huge number of troops to the ISIS War in Iraq over the past two years. President Obama’s reluctance to see that buildup publicized has meant a lot of very small deployments, just adding up to a large on in aggregate.
Quoting Pentagon officials in the Washington Post, Josh Rogin suggests that the top commanders in Iraq, despite having just gotten a few hundred more troops not that long ago, are pushing hard for “dramatically” more ground troops to be sent to the country.
Throughout this war, the military leadership has been pushing for more troops, and faster deployments, and increasingly they appear to be willing to publicly complain about Obama’s slow reaction. With the November elections looming, this could well turn the war into a major campaign issue.
There you go…the answer today is the same answer from 1968 from Westmoreland…..”Need More Troops”……
That is always the answer to these types of situations……? MORE TROOPS!
All I can remember is some fool standing on the deck of an aircraft carrier screaming about the mission being accomplished.
That is all most want to remember….
I note Congress still hasn’t had serious discussion about what we should be doing over there, then giving the President the authority to act more directly.
Of course, they were tied up with the important business of obstructing the President in all ways possible: re-examining Benghazi for the ninth time, kowtowing to the NRA in the face of regular slaughter of innocents (hope they are registered Democrats? or grade schoolers who can’t vote?), and taking more time off from “work” than George W. took “vacations” to Crawford. (I had no problem with George W.’s “vacations” because I also understand Presidents actually carry their work with them and never truly are away from the office – unlike Republican trolls on the “vacations” Obama takes.)
So true….just remember once we commit troops we are totally committed for as long as it takes and no matter the cost….chuq
How’s the health these days….the boys are looking good…chuq
Thanks! I think they look their best when they have long hair, but they have a grooming appointment coming up. They look cute afterwards, but I wish they didn’t mat up with natural length hair. (Andy doesn’t like to be brushed, so gets mats behind his ears mostly and in his armpits, so i indulge them with a spa day every two months….!)
I do the same for “Little Man” my small pup….when I go to pick him up you would think he was mistreated…he begs to be let out….such drama from a little dog….
Oh, the health issues are in control. One benefit of having dialysis three times a week is I have ready access to medical professionals who can help me with issues I might have. They monitor us very closely.
One of my problems in past was the attitude that “Oh, it might be a heart attack, but I’ll make a doctor’s appointment tomorrow if I don’t feel better” , then not making the appointment. I walked around, once, for ten months with a disease that can kill in as little as five months or less, with symptoms that could have and should have sent me to the hospital or a doctor’s appointment at least. When I finally ended up in the hospital, it was because I couldn’t breathe adequately till they transported me by ambulance to the emergency room with oxygen turned up to the highest level.
Yes, I’m in a better place because I have no choice now to be a typical guy who thinks he can outlast the warning symptoms of major issues or impending death!
I hear ya…we guys think we are invincible….the older I got the more I began thinking that regular doc visits might be a good idea…..so far so good….
great assessment, as always.
Thanx my friend….I do try and be informative….chuq
welcome. i love the details you provide
I try to give my reader as much information as they need without being boring…sometimes I do well…LOL
very well, hmmm modest.
honest….(he said smilingly)
ha ha