Posted on 05/23/2015 12:12:26 PM PDT by drewh
Kimberly Dozier of Daily Beast has an excellent piece today you might not see picked up by many in the Obama-puffing national media: "Special Ops to Obama: Let Us Fight ISIS, Already."
Dozier noted that the official line from top brass in the special forces is that destroying ISIS is a long, inter-generational slog. But while they may well be true, she noted, rank-and-file special forces operators express frustration with President Obama hamstringing their operations here and now:
TAMPA, Florida — Fighting simmering frustration in their ranks over ISIS advances in Iraq and Syria, top U.S. special operations commanders say they are building forces for a multi-generational fight—not a war that will be won in the next few years.
“We talk about it being a 15-year struggle,” Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold, who heads the Air Force Special Operations Command, said during a special operations forum in Tampa.
But many special operations officers and troops both in Tampa and Washington don’t want to wait that long to take the fight to ISIS. They were eager to talk about their aggravation over fighting by remote in Iraq and Syria: having to advise Iraqis, Kurdish Peshmerga, and rebel Syrian fighters from afar instead of joining them in battle.
“We are doing everything through cellphones… It’s hard to do much when you can’t go outside the wire,” said one special operator, using the military jargon for the perimeter of a base.
They blame the hands-off approach on an Obama administration unwilling to risk even small numbers of American lives in battle, burned by the fallout of the loss of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, and intent on preserving the legacy of President Barack Obama’s troop drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“You can’t say ‘We’re with you every step of the way, except when you are going on combat operations,’” said a former senior special operations official briefed on the ISIS campaign.
He and many other officers, current and former, at the conference believe both Mosul and Ramadi could have withstood the assault of the so-called Islamic State, also known as ISIS, if a small number of U.S. military advisers had been working with Iraqi forces at the front lines.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the debates over war strategy.
great insight ! thank you
ROE, ROE. but ROI (return on Investment) has meaning for warriors of all branches too. When we leave body parts, blood and comrades on the turf which we then walk away from (giving back to the enemy), that is a poor ROI.
Thanks. I’m still suffering Econ 101 flashbacks.
The last ice age preserved North America for an advanced civilization not cluttered up by the messes made by all the previous populations in the mideast etc. The number of people, led by Odumbo and his Roids, who seem determined to destroy the opportunity is amazing. And it seems it is going to take a major house cleaning to get back on track.
When in the course of human events————Semper Fi
I spent 11 years in the relative safety of the US Navy supporting our Constitution, citizens, and civilian leadership. While I won't call for a military coup, I would sit back and hope for the best if it were to happen. It's worked well for Egypt against Obama's supported Muslim Brotherhood regime.
Unfortunately, with the purge of so many top Generals and Admirals from political expediency, there is probably no one left to initiate nor guide such an effort. We are out of Eisenhowers, Pattons, Halseys ... not to mention strong principled Fedgov Legislators.
We can only wait and keep our powder dry. I am so glad I'm at end days. Never thought I'd be ashamed to be an American. I fear for my children and grand-children.
Yup, we invested many American lives, body parts, blood, and I would include mental stability for nothing once again. I long for the days of Dresdan, Hamburg, Hiroshima, et al. Collateral damage be damned! Kill them all, yesterday!
And while we're at it, clean out these terrorist education centers called Mosques right here in America. Political Correctness be damned!
It took one generation for my family to become Americans....my maternal grandparents were immigrants from Italy.
Their daughter, my mother, worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War II.
Her brother, my uncle, was the pilot of a B-17 Flying Fortress in the European theater during World War II.
My other uncle was in the U.S. Navy during the Second World War.
Obama isn’t going to let them kill his jihadi brothers.
HE will broadcast what choppers they are flying on to his jihadi brothers, and accidentally will “allow” captured US arms to get into their hands so they can seal team 6 them.
They should capture the enemies in the WH.
Obama calling in the war...
Thats why so many good people leave every day. Their enlistment comes up and they walk.
Eventually we will fight them here where Barry and his spiritual successors will bring it. But the people will stop it.
0dumbo has tried to hide his sabotage of U.S. foreign policy but the mask has come off.. There is no other way to characterize his repeated 'mistakes' in the Middle East but INTENTIONAL. 0dumbo is sabotaging America domestically, too.
Less than 1 year to go right? The country will be like Baltimore before this dipsh*t is out.
He said it took three generations. Pretty accurate.
It happened in one generation for us. I'm a first generation American who speaks English as a second language. I passed nothing on from my parent's past and as a result my daughter only knows about our life in America. She knows only English, catholicism was dumped and she's a Protestant and when she was little, Santa brought her gifts and she opened them on Christmas morning. Her and I are as American as it gets.
Only hatred for America - loves ISIS and arms them mightily.
Was at the conference.
TheAmericanReport has published on line “The Betrayal Papers” which explain exactly what Obama is doing with the caliphate and to America.
BS. The brassed azz class, are absolutely gleaming over the near future aspect of full-on World War. This article is a well placed disclaimer, prior to the event. Good grief, if you can’t read a puzzy General Occifer, then kyag.
WH lawyers are running spec ops.
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