Posted on 08/20/2014 4:10:03 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
US officials have begun discussions with local leaders in Iraq’s Ninevah province about how to recapture the city of Mosul in the wake of the successful operation to recover control of Mosul Dam from the Islamic State (IS), a US official said.
In an interview Aug. 20 with Al-Monitor, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, predicted that recovering Iraq’s second largest city — which was seized by IS on June 10 — would “require local forces” and be a long-term project.
“We’re in touch with the governor of Ninevah and all the Iraqi leaders and a number of sheikhs from the area about how to begin to take territory away from ISIL,” the official said, using an alternate acronym for the extremist group.
The capture of Mosul shocked Iraqis and the Barack Obama administration, which was disheartened to see the collapse of much of the US-trained Iraqi military and the loss of so many US weapons.
About 200 of the US-trained commandos “did most of the fighting and cleared a lot of IEDs [improvised explosive devices]” while the United States provided air support, he said. The United States planned the operation and coordinated the Iraqis with the Kurds’ peshmerga from a joint operating center in the Kurdish regional capital of Erbil.
Asked about possible coordination with Iran against IS, the US official suggested that there had not been direct contact but indicated that the United States was aware of Iranian activities.
(Excerpt) Read more at al-monitor.com ...
Send in the troups mr. peace prize guy!!
“US begins talks on how to push IS out of Mosul.”
Answer: a new commander in chief.
About 200 of the US-trained commandos “did most of the fighting and cleared a lot of IEDs [improvised explosive devices]” while the United States provided air support, he said.
Obama sez no boots on the ground, while these poor bastages
get their feet wet. Damn the man.
He sends dribs and drabs when a major surge is called for.
Shock and awe? The politicians are no match for the greatest anti-truth, anti-freedom, anti-individual, anti-life collective in the history of mankind. Jihad rolls.
Let’s get rid of the acronym IS and ISIS. Let’s say “Ialamic State” so Obama will have to eventually utter the “M” word. Obama said this has nothing to with religion, what part of “Islamic State” which he called ISIS today doesn’t he understand?
Carpet bombing would scare the “Allah” out of them.
Let’s get rid of the acronym IS and ISIS
I agree. Nowadays you can’t tell if you are talking about a terrorist or a disease.
The way I read it these 200 guys are Iraqi commandos, not Americans. But who knows whats really going on.
Someone will write a book in five years or so I guess.
Start continuous round the clock bombing. First target their military stashes and then take out the cities, people and all if necessary. Reduce it to rubble. We did it with Dresden, Hamburg and Berlin, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Tokyo. Why not every cow pie town and village in Iraq, Syria, Iran and wherever they lurk? Take out their oil fields, railroads everything of any value. It can all be rebuilt. After all, it’ll only take one bomb per target and there are plenty of them available. (Bombs and Targets). This is a friggin’ WAR! There is NO substitute for victory. It will send a loud and clear message to citizens who want to support 7th century maniacs like ISIL!
You are correct, I didn’t catch that.
My mistake.
The guys are probably stuck with useless rules of engagement too.
When they get far enough out..
A moabist proposal
Massive Ordinance Air Blast, aka "Mother of all bombs"
Yes that’s a very good point. Current focus on Syria and Iraq. But IS also has a smaller force in the Lebanon for example. Preventative measures should be also taken so that IS can’t raise its ugly head again in another part of the world.
For the US administration, one approach would be not to arm "rebels" to overthrow "dictatorships" when you don't know who exactly those "rebels" are.
The other point is that Muslim Sunni and Shia Arabs and non-Arabs must fight IF they want IS annihilated. The U.S. can and should provide "support" only at absolute most. But the U.S. can not be the main fighter here, especially in muslim lands. Those living in Muslim lands need to be the drivers, with U.S. or Western help - they'll value their freedom more.
find = fight
A-10s vs Toyota Tundras.
No contest
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.