Posted on 06/24/2014 12:23:16 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Special operations forces are the elite troops of the U.S. military. But sending them to Iraq without a clear purpose won’t lead to a good outcome. As Iraq devolves into a multi-party civil war, President Obama has moved one step closer to sending military forces back into the country. Yet the White House has not clearly explained what the proposed contingent of 300 special operations troops would actually do, other than some vague talk about advising their Iraqi counterparts. Veterans of the special operations community spoke with The Daily Beast about what the operation would likely entail and expressed their skepticism about how much it could accomplish.
Asked if he believed sending the small military force into Iraq was a good thing, a special operations veteran and former CIA officer said, “It’s not a good thing or a bad thing, it’s a no thing. These guys are being given an impossible mission. What are they going to do? Host a dinner party? It’s 300 guys to stop ISIS from taking over Baghdad.”
On Monday, as reports spread that ISIS had captured border crossing points along the length of Iraq’s western frontier, the Obama administration cleared the most significant obstacle to sending the U.S. military to Iraq. The White House announced a diplomatic agreement providing immunity for U.S. forces from prosecution under Iraqi law. It now seems like only a matter of time before the planned 300 special operations troops arrive in Iraq. But what they will do there is an open question.
“They only thing they could do that would be effective is acting as a targeting cell,” the former CIA officer told The Daily Beast.
Practically, “targeting” would mean using high-tech U.S. intelligence assets to gather information and coordinate air strikes or Iraqi-led ground offensives.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
Thermopylae comes to mind.
Saying that Iraq is an impossible mission is the same as saying it’s impossible to change your spark plugs wearing a straight jacket. The current pc rules of engagement have been that straight jacket.
If Obama were serious about helping Iraq, he would force Saudi Arabia to stop its funding of the ISIL. Instead he is sending brave young Americans to die in that quagmire.
Obama screwed the pooch.
They’re intended as a purely political patch, the better to later allege that he’d gone ahead and made “the really hard choices about force” in order to best avoid a total collapse.
In many cases they’ll be shot by the very people they were sent to try and protect.
It’s a GOLF FOXTROT right from the word, “go”.
RE: If Obama were serious about helping Iraq, he would force Saudi Arabia to stop its funding of the ISIL.
Don’t forget QATAR. That’s the place that funds Al Jazeera ( and the place which is supposed to keep the Taliban 5 out of trouble /sarc )
Bingo. Take away the “ROEs” imposed on the military by the morons on Capitol Hill and our military could really mess up ISIS’s millennium. “Rules of War” is why we have so many wars. War is not supposed to be tidy, nice and neat. The enemies of America see it that way. We should too.
Obama initiated the arms aid that created ISIS.
Now he sends last minute armed aid AGAINST ISIS.
This is God’s way of telling us he has NO IDEA about how to use force and statecraft.
#ISIS sucks
That'll teachem
#ISIS sucks
That'll teachem
When militant Sunnis are engaging in a mutual suicide pact with militant Shi’ites, it is well to stay far out of their way until one side or the other wins a conclusive victory.
As that situation shall NEVER come to be, until one side or the other is annihilated, we might never actually become engaged in the Middle East in any military manner again.
Whatever would make ANYBODY think that the Current Occupant now squatting in the White Hut has the best interests of Iraq or any of the people of Iraq at heart, and/or is any way serious about helping anybody but himself and his close coterie?
When we first went into Iraq I supported throwing out Hussein. When we stayed in order to “nation build”, I called Bush an idiot and stated that reforming a muslim country is not possible without destroying islam and that what would happen is we would spend a lot of money and kill a lot of our soldiers, and as soon as we left there would be the same civil war that would have taken place had we left immediately. That it would be a complete waste of blood and treasure.
Bush just didn’t want to be blamed for a bloodbath.
I was crucified on conservative forums. What I suggested then, and suggest now, is that we set up a large base or bases in Kurdistan - mainly working with the Christian Kurds. They would be able to protect our bases internally and we could in return protect Kurdish autonomy. It would be a reasonably safe area for both.
This could also provide a safe haven for religious minorities in the area and would give us the ability to quickly respond to problems throughout the ME and dominate the region.
Instead of trying to bring down Assad we should be dealing with the bastard as he at least keeps the real crazies in check (he, gasp, oppresses them). We could demand, in return, the ability to travel through Syrian air space.
Bush killed 5,000 troops and wasted 2 trillion dollars. Sickening. Beyond foolish.
Obutthole is turning the entire ME into a monolithic block of evil.
We cannot be the world’s police force. We cannot afford it. But on the other hand, I don’t think we can completely withdraw from the region either.
300 Special Forces embedded with the Peshmerga could kick some serious ass...
WRONG~!
Buish WON the Iraq War
Obama is LOSING the peace.
300 men? What does Obama think that small of a force can do? Are they Spartans? They can only delay the end—Think Alamo, The ISIS is well organized—better than the Iraq Government. In reality—there is no more Iraq—There is 1. Kurdistan, 2. The Caliphate and 3. Sumer Shiastan. This one Biden got right. In truth—this should have been own Iraq should have been divided in the first place. I believe the ISIS will surround Baghdad and starve them out—maybe use gas or other weapons of Mass Destruction. The Government will flee to Basra under Iranian protection. Next move—the march on Jourdan and the end of the Kingdom.
this reminds me of Reagan sending troops to Lebanon.
this is not going to be good.
Sorry, if I were Iran, I would offer hundreds of thousands of dollars for one American soldier alive....or to kill as many as possible. They know if this happens the outcry for us being there is going to be deafening.
All Saudi financed and designed to establish an Arabic speaking Sunni confederation composed of large parts of Syria and Iraq to confront Iran. If however they try to march into Jordan, the Jordanian army is a well led cohesive force. They will not crumble and the ISIL force will be badly bloodied.
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