Youssef Boudlal/Reuters
Are American Troops Already Fighting on the Front Lines in Iraq? -- Ford Sypher, Daily Beast
The Pentagon is denying that U.S. troops are fighting ISIS on the ground in Iraq—but eyewitness accounts and Kurdish officials tell a different story.
ZUMAR, Iraq — The role of American Special Operations Forces in Iraq has remained hidden even while the U.S. air war expands. As momentum against ISIS picks up, they may be emerging from the shadows. In a pitched battle on Monday, Kurdish Peshmerga, backed by American airpower and what appeared to be U.S. troops, struck at ISIS positions in the strategic crossroads of Zumar.
Scenes from Monday’s battle provide a tentative but valuable glimpse into the evolving role of special operations troops and how that might be playing out on the ground in Iraq.
Kurdish forces had once held Zumar but lost control of the town in early August in the same ISIS offensive that drove tens of thousands of Yazidis into the mountains, fleeing massacres at the hands of the Islamist militants. As ISIS advanced, besieging religious minorities and driving the Kurds into retreat, President Obama expand the military mission in the country and authorized airstrikes against the group. The effect of U.S. airpower has been clear, pushing ISIS back and allowing Kurdish and Iraqi security forces to regain territory. The airstrikes have had another important consequence: providing a psychological boon to the anti-ISIS forces in Iraq that’s allowed them to regain some of the initiative in battle.
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My Comment: For the past few months Iraqi government officials were consistent in complaining/demanding/begging the U.S. to intervene and assist them in their war against the Islamic State .... and now no more complaints or demands. My guess is that the reason why they stopped making public comments on the need for a U.S. intervention is that they are receiving it .... and on a far greater level than what is being told to the public. To begin .... someone has to be on the ground coordinating those U.S. air strikes.
-ISIS knows we are there.
ReplyDelete-The Iraqi government knows we are there.
-Every government with a concern in the region and a decent intel service knows we are there.
-Many if not most of the American Military know we are there & fighting
If the truth is not told it is hard to have a political discussion in the public square about the best course of action.
The administration and Democrat Party does not have to take flack from the anti-war Left (fratricide) and the isolationist Right. They do not have to spend the time in debate, have their energy sapped, spend the political capital nor take the hit in the polls. If a Republican administration were to inherit the situation the antiwar Left will be unleashed.
It is also more personal. People could have benefits withheld because a formal declaration of hostilities was not made. A political skin is worth more than blood, sweat, and tears.