Posted on 10/02/2014 10:42:29 PM PDT by GonzoII
کد مطلب: 8499 | تاريخ: 2014/10/01 | ساعت: 12 : 29
British, US forces join Peshmerga fighters on IS front line
Britain and American special forces are working with Kurdish fighters on the Iraqi front lines as part of a major offensive to push IS jihadists back and relieve pressure on the besieged Syria town of Kobani, senior Kurdish military officers have disclosed.
According to daily Telegraph the Kurdish forces launched attacks just before dawn on three fronts - Rabia, on the Syrian border, Zummar, a town near Mosul Dam, and a number of villages near Daquq, south of Kirkuk.
Britain and American special forces were working along these battle zones as observers on the front lines as well as training Kurdish troops. Brig. Gen. Hikmet also said that discussions were under way to give them a dedicated base near the Kurdish city of Dohuk.
"The [US and UK] special forces have been so effective for us," Brig-Gen Helgurd Hikmet told the Telegraph. "Their special forces don't take any part in the fighting. They are only taking a role in training and teaching, and also as observers. As observers they go to the front line, but don't do any fighting."
It is believed the British air strikes on Tuesday were part of the battle for Rabia, which is a key supply route for the Islamic State (IS) between its "headquarters" in Syria and its forces in Iraq.
Large amounts of modern American equipment seized from the Iraqi army during IS's push across Iraq in June were taken over the border to Syria across this border.
Troops there on Tuesday said a force of 3-400 men crossed the river at 4.30am and managed to encircle IS troops in the forward village of Wahda, seizing the villages of Khalidiya and Saadiya to the north- and south-west. But the centre point of the attack became held up in Wahda, and the whole advance was forced to fall back.
"I was in Khalidiya and the response we met was very heavy," said Khadir Aziz, a Peshmerga soldier. "We never imagined they would hit us so strongly."
One of the commanding officers, Lt Col Safwat Mahmoud, said they had tried to call in air strikes in support but had had no response.
Brig-Gen Hikmet said the aim of the concerted Kurdish push had been to try to draw away IS fighters and relieve pressure on Kobani, the Kurdish town in Syria near the Turkish border that is all but surrounded by IS.
"When we were first at war with IS, we saw our weapons were nothing - most were not working, even our ammunition was old," Brig. Gen. Hikmet said. "This coalition with western countries is very powerful for us."
Will the Peshmerga take ISIS prisoners after all that they suffered?
They must be wearing sneakers, then. I hope to Heaven that their ROE aren’t so restricted in order to stick with the White Hut’s promise that they are unable to defend themselves. What a cluster flop.
WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT???
Bad enough that we're not properly supporting the Kurds but when our Special Forces are there as observers??? You'd figure that at least the Brits would properly support their own. Someone should lose their stars over this report if it is true.
The US is in a dilemma — we support the Kurds who are not allied with the Turks who are supposed to be our buddies.
“They must be wearing sneakers, then. I hope to Heaven that their ROE arent so restricted in order to stick with the White Huts promise that they are unable to defend themselves. What a cluster flop.”
You beat me. I was going to post that they were wearing Nike’s.
The ROE’s are probably so restricted, they make LBJ’s, Carter’s and Clinton’s ROE’s look like free fire ROE’s.
AMAZING how quiet the Anti-War liberal left is on yet another possibly pending undeclared war by the Peace Prize President eObolo Liar, isn't it??
LBJ went from being a so called great president with the liberals with his war on poverty, which is still being lost, to one of the worse presidents ever after he deepened the Nam War because of the so called Gulf of Tonkin event.
Now, eObolo Liar appears to be following in the footsteps of LBJ with his lies about Isis, Assad and Syria, while covering for the Muslim Brotherhood Thugs and Isis in Syria/Iraq.
"eObolo Liar is drawing us in and he will go with or without the consent of the Congress and the Consent of the Governed. This could be an impeachable act if he botches it and is not legally covered. What's it to him if a few US pilots get shot down, some US sailors get seriously injured in the cruise missile prep on our ships, American citizens are kidnapped by Hezbollah in Beirut, or ISIS throughout the Middle East, US Embassy and consulates across the Middle East get RPG-ed with major strikes and more Americans taken as prisoners, and otherwise all hell breaks loose. Domestically, he can get NSA, eObolo care, Fox News wiretap-gate, IRS-gate and Benghazi off the front pages."
Also, if eObolo Liar decides to attack the Syrian regime, he has ensured for the very first time in history that the United States will be on the same side as al-Qaeda.
Quite an alliance! The Islamic thugs/serial killers, who slaughtered thousands of innocent Americans on 9/11, will then be fighting alongside the very Islamic thug who so cruelly murdered a little more than 13 years ago.
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.