Posted on 04/29/2016 11:54:56 AM PDT by Keyvan Salami
One day after declaring there is no military solution to Syria, U.S. President Barack Obama recently announced the deployment of 250 more special operations forces for the fight against Daesh (the Arabic acronym for the self-proclaimed Islamic State, or ISIS). This new troop deployment will be missioned to advise and assist local fighters, and beef up 50 other such troops on a similar mission in the past few months. This move comes after an escalation of violence in the strategic city of Aleppo where the Assad regime has intensified its lethal airstrikes, bringing a drastic end to the UN-brokered cessation of hostilities reached back in February.
What is the significance of these additional 250 specials ops forces, and what will they likely be doing when they get there is a very good question. This is seen as an effort to merge the advances made against ISIS , specifically territory gained recently in Syria and northern Iraq. As a result, it appears Obama is inclined to deploy extra special operations forces. 250 is a great deal more than 50 already on the ground, but the important aspect is their mission is to advise and assist other fighters in order to consolidate the gains made against ISIS. These gains have been significant and the defense analysis by IHS Janes shows ISIS has lost 20% of its previous territory in the last year or so. Feats include accurately severing crucial lines of supply and communications linking ISIS units across large swathes of Iraq and Syria. The number of different factions in Syria have made it much more difficult for these forces to hold ground after pushing ISIS out. The number of different converging factions in this scenario makes reaching a solution all the more difficult in this fluid and very complex area of the world. The new U.S. specials ops are not on combat missions, yet they will be armed and prepared to provide for their own defense.
This increase to 300 special ops members on the ground in Syria taking part in the fight against extremists in this war-ravaged country is set to increasingly upgrade American presence, parallel to similar moves made by Washington in Iraq where they will be accompanied with 8 Apache attack helicopter gunships. This unit, consisting largely of Army Green Berets, is set to include also an unannounced number of logistical and medical specialists to provide the support needed. This move comes despite Obama’s continued reluctance to dispatch further troops into Syria or Iraq, and yet seems inevitable and unavoidable. During his trip to Europe Obama refused to directly respond to questions on this subject.
These measures are taking place as Iraqi forces are in preparation to push ISIS out of Mosul and retake the country’s 2nd largest city. Forced to re-enter Iraq in June 2014, this carefully calibrated increment increase of forces has brought Washington to the point of having 4,000+ authorized military members on the ground in the region.
While considering the move necessary, Senator John McCain, Chair of the Senate Armed Forces Committee studies the move as “insufficient”, describing Obama’s policy as trekking down a “dangerous road of gradual escalation” that will fail to “undo the damage in Syria to which this administration has borne passive witness.” McCain also recalled a similarly gradual buildup in Vietnam that ended in a disastrous defeat for the U.S. When a U.S. president fails to act on his own red line, as Obama refused to strike Assad forces in 2013 after the horrific chemical attack that left over 1,500 dead in a neighborhood near Damascus, options wind down and decisions become ever more difficult. This opens the possibility before enemies to fill the void and take full advantage of the status quo, as Iran and Russia have demonstrated.
History has taught us lessons that simply cannot be forsaken. A vacuum invites in the greedy. Politicians can’t simply say wars are over without tangible measures. Realizing political solutions is dependent on specific military dimensions. And finally, failing to respond to the 3 am phone call and following inaction renders perils that too often are dangerously far graver than the risks in actually taking action.
As long as we witness the Obama administration reconciling with the harsh truth, unfortunately the Syrian people will continue dying, refugees will further flock to Europe and beyond, and the disease known as ISIS will spread ever so more.
Keyvan tweets at @salamikeyvan
No.
.
Long ago when I was on active duty, the usual ratio of support troops to combat soldiers was about six to one. Now that we’ll have over 300 special forces on site, one could reasonably expect that support soldiers will range from 1500 to 2000, or a total of 3600 to 4600 “boots on the ground.”
Personally, I couldn’t say, and I’m certainly no military expert.
On the other hand, I’ve heard this phrase about unconventional troops - ‘force multiplier.’
Can anyone with some savvy leave a comment?
yeah, one of the poor guys or more could get killed by Russian aircraft igniting a disaster of epic proportions.
They can't if they don't have a clear mission. I think Obama's still more interested in taking out Assad than he is in dealing with ISIS. These guys are probably there to help target pro-Assad people more than anything else.
In a word, no.
I believe that 250 well trained US Marines with the proper, unrestricted ROE, well supported both on the ground and in the air, could OWN Syria in a week.
So, no.
If my 40yrs + memories still hold, and if the author is correct that
This unit, consisting largely of Army Green Berets, is set to include also an unannounced number of logistical and medical specialists to provide the support needed.
those "unannounced" skills are already part of the organization. The labor & bureaucracy intensive supply and support IS considerable but it can and should come from off shore.
There are more than that at the door of any Walmart on Black Friday. 250 is a joke and only risks our troops for being such a vulnerable target.
The ROE that our servicemembers are saddled with places them at unnecessary risk. That's part of the "America First" that I'd be on board with.
Russians did most of the work. We put in a token effort and claim victory. “Mission Accomplished”
exactly right. The establishment would never untie their hands.
Trump for President.
thanks all for sharing your precious comments and views and all will help me for my next piece.
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