IS is skidaddling back to Syria.
From what I have read, there never were that many IS goons. They rely on terror to cower the population. Once a credible force opposes them, they prove to be cowardly bullies.
It’s got to be tough for ISIS to move about with F/A-18’s waiting to pounce. The U.S. should’ve hit their convoys MONTHS ago. There was never a more clear target than when they came parading into Iraq from Syria in a nice long line of howitzers, machine gun trucks, personnel carriers, etc.
Nice to see soldiers who don’t wear masks or carry swords.
The Kurds will also buy a lot of goodwill and standing in all this. I’d rather see them do the liberating at this point.
Exactly. The Peshmerga are tough, competent fighters but they have suffered from the U.S. withdrawal (and a lack of recent training with our forces) and the trickle of equipment and supplies that are routed through Baghdad.
Use airpower to keep ISIS in check, and turn on the aid pipeline to the Kurds. I’m guessing that many of the 500 or so SOF that Barry sent to Iraq were routed to Kurdistan to serve as trainers and advisers. Give the SF guys some time to train up the Kurds and ensure they’re properly equipped, then turn them loose—with the full weight of U.S. airpower behind them. ISIS will melt like a snowball in the desert.
Of course, even that modest approach would require a commander-in-chief with a set, and that description doesn’t fit the current occupant of the Oval Office.