Posted on 08/08/2014 7:39:00 AM PDT by Jonah Vark
Washington (CNN) -- Two U.S. F/A-18 jet fighters bombed artillery batteries of Sunni Islamic extremists in Iraq on Friday, escalating America's military involvement more than two years after President Barack Obama brought home forces from the country.
Obama authorized "targeted airstrikes" if needed to protect U.S. personnel from fighters with the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. The U.S. military also could use airstrikes to prevent what officials warn could be a genocide of minority groups by the Islamic State fighters.
The U.S. aircraft dropped 500-pound laser-guided bombs on a "mobile artillery piece" used by ISIS at about 6:45 a.m. ET Friday, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said. The commander of U.S. Central Command made the decision to strike under authorization granted him by Obama, Kirby said.
The Islamic State has advanced toward what officials call U.S. interests in Iraq's Kurdish region in the north this week, taking towns from the Kurdish fighting force, known as the Peshmerga. READ MORE.......
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
What an expensive waste when a residual force left in Iraq could have local bases to fly from.
Knowing our ferocious CIC, I imagine they will only be allowed to nibble around the edges, when ISIS needs to be buried under at least 6 feet of sand.
vaudine
Think about it... some brave and honorable pilots had had enough and did what needed to be done without authorization (and perhaps against direct orders). Their careers may be toast, but they're probably OK with that, if that's the price they had to pay to do the right thing. There was a mutiny, however small, and the after-the-fact "authorization" to conduct "limited" air strikes is Obama's attempt to cover up that fact.
It would be interesting indeed if an entire Carrier Battle Group told the administration to go pound sand.
And that's what we're looking at for the remaining 2 or so years, and longer if the like-minded people in the alphabet agencies are not weeded out.
The "military advisors" Obama deployed don't sit in Offices at the embassay. Clearly and verified by news, Green Berets were deployed to embed with the Kurds. The purpose of Green Berets is foriegn embedment and the GB have been with the Kurds on and off since the Gulf War 1.
The Kurds and GB are laser painting targets and calling in air strikes. That's boots on the ground.
These are FA-!8 fighters which are usually deployed on carriers!!
“Hey, I didn’t get a Harumff out of that guy”
Governor on “Blazzing Saddles”
I miss War Porn.
Wolf is a clown...CNN is doing a much more adequate job than Fox of reporting, however. The military “experts” are better and by the way, since when did Alyson Camarada defect?
“The objective is to effectively begin to establish the new border. ISIL is being told stop that shit!”
I think the administration is doing this to throw Israel a bone and run Cover ops while Israel mows the grass in Gaza.
I do have a theory. These raids we will see over the next few days is to go after the leaders of ISIS. I am willing to bet that several of them were in Benghazi negotiating with Stevens the transfer of arms from Iraq to rebel forces. Once the deal was done, there was no longer a need for Stevens and Obama and Hillary cannot do anything for fear of being exposed.
I would go so far as to say this was the reason for us pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan.
2 x 500 lb laser bombs on mobile artillery......
Thats not even a fart in this shite storm, and Obazma is bragging about it?
Buahahahahahaha!
This is pap for the media. Obastma has no intention of influencing the conflict at all.
That plan involves two separate problems.
Such a solution as you have suggested is considered by me to be beyond the intellectual ability of the Obama tyranny
Definitely.
I agree.
Obama just called his friends at ISIS and asked them to roll out a sacrifice of an old piece of equipment for him to bomb so he could save face.
I guess we have to believe the 500 pound part——but that’s really overdoing it with respect to the job at hand. That’s like 10 cases of well placed dynamite. That’s enough to take out a couple of city blocks never mind an artillery piece. But maybe the ordnance loader guys on the Bush were just really PO’d. In any case a bunch of ISIS sand rats got schooled and are already naming their virgin goatz. And that’s not a bad thing. I expect it hurts the Grand Kenyan’s feelings that he smoked some fellow Moozies?
I recall those photos of the long stretches/lines of insurgents in black parading with their captured military equipment. I also remember the photos of USA planes in WWII strafing long columns German military columns. I’m waiting to see the same kind of action against the insurgent columns. I have to allow for changes in tactics and leadership.
The USS Bush has been on station there for about two months now-—part of its regular rotation. It was already monitoring the Crimea/Ukraine stuff. Just regular business for those guys.-——Good luck to them and Semper Fi
Three years later and the situation is now complete chaos. Should have thought through the complete withdrawal.
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.