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| "I am an American fighting man. I serve in the forces guarding our country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense." |
Posted on 03/08/2017 12:51:30 PM PST by elhombrelibre
Marines from an amphibious task force have left their ships in the Middle East and deployed to Syria, establishing an outpost from which they can fire artillery guns in support of the fight to take back the city of Raqqa from the Islamic State, defense officials said.
The deployment marks a new escalation in the U.S. war in Syria, and puts more conventional U.S. troops in the battle. Several hundred Special Operations troops have advised local forces there for months, but the Pentagon has mostly shied away from using conventional forces in Syria. The new mission comes as the Trump administration weighs a plan to take back Raqqa, the so-called capital of the Islamic State, that also includes more Special Operations troops and attack helicopters.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Also, they’re blocking Turkey from attacking the Kurds. Turkey has talked about taking Mosul and Raqqa, but that’s done nothing to aid in the defeat of ISIS. However, they probably would mix it up with the Kurds if they could catch them between ISIS and themselves. So this move keeps the battle focused where it should be on defeating ISIS.
Its more like Arabs vs Persians (Iranians).
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, AND the highest ranked Russian in uniform, just had a combined meeting with the highest Turkish military officer in Antalya.
I’m thinking that marks the limits of Turkey’s advance into Syria for now.
A lot of folks thought that the Turks were trying to distract forces from the Raqqa assault by attacking Manbij, and they definitely were trying to get to Raqqa themselves.
Now that the Syrian Arab Army has blocked the Turks, there is no more distraction, no more (covert) Turkish resupply will reach Raqqa, and there is no easy way out left for ISIS in Raqqa.
It’s Hammering Time!
“to utilise the Marine Raider Regt..”
This is the 2nd reference I’ve seen to Marine Raiders. Has the Corps resurrected the Raider battalions or is the designation in error?
I am not so sure Obama sided against Assad. We know what happened when Obama “confronted” Iran... it was a ruse
Obama signed a deal with Iran giving the world’s biggest sponsor of terrorism everything they want in exchange for “promises”.
Raider Battalions are operational.
They have designated their Spec Ops combat formations as Raiders.
“Raider Battalions are operational.”
That’s damn interesting. We had a Marine Raider member at our American Legion post. He did the Guadalcanal tour back in 1943. (For those who aren’t familiar with USMC history, the Raiders were disbanded after Guadalcanal, on January, 1944.)
Here’s the link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Raiders
Check out the Raiders’ patch.
“They have designated their Spec Ops combat formations as Raiders.”
Question: Has the Corps redisgnated recon as Raiders?
They’re awesome at what they do. Some of the best guys I’ve been around.
You don’t send US Marines to a battlefield just to shoot the artillery. For one thing, the Army has better artillery (the Marines have nothing even close to the range and precision of the M270 MLRS), and more of it.
You send the Marines either because you want to show the colors or because you’re expecting their mission to evolve into something less long-range and more intimate. Or both.
Next stop: Fix bayonets, Devil-Dogs!
A portion of the SDF are Arab forces. Last time I heard a number for the strength of the SDF it was 50,000. That might a little light of actual.
Trump told you he would end ISIS. Don’t you remember.
And he and Mattis will help the SDF and SAA do it.
End of story.
Correct the SDF (mostly Kurd and Arab) will do the assault with support by special forces and now the Marine Howitzers.
Not sure about how many of the 75th are there. Original news said 1,000. Some speculate 3,000.
Special Forces number are fairly small. But they count for a lot. They have been fighting alongside SDF for some time.
I don’t look at this as negative as you do. I think the Kurds (SDF) will do their part and will surprise you.
SDF took Manbij (fairly large town) from ISIS with no armor and lost 500 of their soldiers taking it with small arms. It was not a majority Kurdish city, and the local government now is mixed.
Then Erdogan wanted to kill them for it.
Active Duty ping.
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| "I am an American fighting man. I serve in the forces guarding our country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense." |
I see the Trump policy on Assad as more of indifference than pro-Assad.
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