Official: Couple hundred US Marines go into Syria

Stars and Stripes ^ | 8 Mar 2017 | LOLITA C. BALDOR

[Dixie Yooper]

I hope and pray that our military leadership is up to this, and that our boys are armed, loaded and protected better than they were at the Beirut airport years ago.

[BeauBo]

"So much for not telling the enemy your plans."

At this point, there is not much that they can do about, except to run or die in place. Marines are already outside their capital, laying in their guns. No announcement was made prior to their movement, and I have not seen anyone give their location (except to say that they must be within 20 miles of the target). Once a unit moves, there is no more hiding it.

In truth, what ISIS could (will) do is try to send a suicide vehicle bomb into the Marine Fire Base. Everybody there knows that well, it is about an everyday attempt by ISIS. So the Marines will have that as their first force protection priority. I doubt they will succeed with any suicide vehicles.

A suicide vehicle would have to get through 10 or 20 miles of Kurdish controlled territory. They have grown skilled at stopping those vehicles. After we invaded Iraq in 2003, and through the worst of the sectarian violence of 2006-9, not one American died in the Kurdish-controlled North. This is a different set of Kurds, but they have also shown that they protect their American allies like gold. As a practical matter, the Kurds will provide adequate force protection, but you know that the Marines will have their own defense within that.

The other likely threat is a rocket attack (one killed a Marine outside Mosul previously). Marines should get some berms built for the shrapnel in the first week. Those rockets are very inaccurate, Raqqa has no where near as many as Mosul did, and the counter-battery fire will be swift.

Due to our air coverage, and the Kurds superiority in fighting in open terrain, ISIS chooses to fight in the urban areas as much as possible, where they can inflict more casualties, with booby traps, IEDs, and well-prepared positions, using civilians as shields. That will be the fight in Raqqa, and our allies are going to bear that burden. Contrary to what some posters have said (confusing these guys with some of the others in theater), the SDF is proven effective infantry.

Whenever the Kurds (and their Arab components in the SDF) come up on a strong point, the Marines can now drop a GPS guided shell right on top of it from out in the suburbs. It is going to make a huge difference - speed things up, save friendlies, and kill enemies. It is much more responsive than waiting for an air strike, and very different from how they had to fight in Manbij.

[elhombrelibre]

I know. And anyone not pimping for Putin is a paid Soros agent, or some other such flimflam. They seem to no longer even like America and are downright in love with Putin and some are sweet on Assad too. The removal of ISIS is going to complicate their rationale for Assad, so they pour scorn on the idea that ISIS can be defeated.

[elhombrelibre]

Other systems, like the HIMARS, are used to do what heavy artillery did. The GMLRS is pretty impressive, too.

[onedoug]

The Congress is overloaded alright, but it sure isn’t with information.

God knows how America could have elected a foreign born muslim President on the heels of 9/11.

But as for how we should yet aim at targets, you mentioned six of them in your first paragraph.

[elhombrelibre]

And, as for your comments on force protection, there will be a variety of ISR available. Possibly the Army’s Grey Eagle or an Air Force Predator. They’re not out their blind.

[greedo]

How can we aim for a target we don't even know exists?







Photo By: Lance Cpl. Julien Rodarte

Marines fire illumination rounds to help find targets in the dark

[onedoug]

Oh. And thanks for your service.

[Pentagon Leatherneck]

I think I’m better informed, and much more honest than “the left.”
We have:
A poor definition of strategy. Attrition is a tactic, not a strategy.
No well-defined enemy, with a defined leadership, capital, economy, etc.
Weak national leadership to persuade our nation of the just goals at stake.
Enemy forces afield who are ideologically committed ( if to a perverted religious notion).
Lying, ideologically cynical media.
A weakened force structure with little depth.

As I said, the theater is a dusted-off 1964 show.
TC

[RetSignman]

[No announcement was made prior to their movement, and I have not seen anyone give their location...]

Thanks for that clarification, when I posted my original reply, I thought it meant that they were scheduled to go and not already in action.

I’m glad I was wrong.

[elhombrelibre]

The Strategy is clear. Annihilation of ISIS. Raqqa is their self-proclaimed center of gravity; it’s their caliphate. We got this.

[Pentagon Leatherneck]

So when do you plan to declare victory?

TC

[elhombrelibre]

When it’s done, POTUS will declare victory.

[Newbomb Turk]

We just to identify what we intend to do an go kick ass and get this done. We won a world war in far less time.

Stupid politicians keep screwing it up with "Rules".

Used to be if you talked $hit to America, we killed you.

[HollyB]

It falls under ‘missions’ and not ‘war’, so a POTUS can order troops. I didn’t like it when Obama did it without congressional oversight and I don’t like it now.