Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington, D.C., Sept. 16, 2014. DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Hinton
Pentagon Yet To Decide On Syrian Rebel Force Central To Isis Offensive -- The Guardian
US military officials consider raising trustworthy rebel force to destroy Isis on the ground without committing US soldiers
Two weeks after US warplanes began bombing Islamic State (Isis) positions in Syria, the Pentagon leadership has yet to make critical decisions about building the proxy rebel force central to its plan for taking territory away from the jihadist army.
US military officials consider raising a Syrian rebel force crucial for the war aim of ultimately destroying Isis without committing US soldiers and marines to another bloody Middle East ground war. But the Pentagon has yet to even assign a US officer to the task of determining which rebels are trustworthy and capable enough to comprise that force.
“No decision has been made as to who will lead the programme,” commander Elissa Smith, a Pentagon spokeswoman, confirmed to the Guardian.
Read more ....
Update: Pentagon can’t decide which rebels to train in Syria -- RT
My Comment: The Saudis are apparently already training 5,000 rebels .... Saudis launch U.S.-backed training for 5,000 Syrian rebels (World Tribune) .... but these rebels are to fight Assad's army, not the Islamic State. As to which Syrian rebel force will the U.S. support .... the U.S. training/support teams are already there .... but I suspect that the reason why the U.S. is not rushing into this program is that they just do not know who to trust ... or more to the point .... they are having trouble finding allies who will support U.S. goals and who will take the U.S. lead in the war against the Islamic State. As to not appointing someone to head this program .... I do no know about that .... after-all .... isn't that suppose to be this Generals' job?
Update: The lack of having a reliable ally on the ground is becoming costly .... Here's The Major Reason Why ISIS Is About To Take A Critical Kurdish City In Syria (Business Insider).
5 comments:
Someone help me out please.
In the Business insider map they show an ISIS attack zone NE of Hasakay right on the Turkish border.
How can the ISIS get there without going through miles of Kurdish territory of infiltrating form Turkey?
The same goes for the attack zone near Basrah. that is some deep penetration. Between checkpoints and counter intel, you would think ISIS could not penetrated that far south.
Are the attacks near Basrah suicide attacks?
I know Basra has experienced suicide attacks. Is the Islamic State responsibe .... or Al Qaeda ... I do not know. As to Hasakay .... I also do not know.
Thank you for the reply.
I would expect that Basrah was
suicide attacks.
the shortest route would be from Kuwait and coming through with the normal traffic or through a smugglers route.
I know a trench was dug between Kuwait and Iraq. It was man high and about as wide as a vehicle or maybe 1/2 as wide. I do not remember if it stretched the length of the border. It was meant to impede smuggling and as a military speed bump. I saw pictures from the personal collection of a UN observer.
I do not know what shape the trench is in or what type of control the Kuwaitis or Iraqis have over the border.
There was plenty of smuggling. Maybe the suicide attackers came in that way.
Traveling from Baghdad down to Basrah seems suicidal without being able to affect your intended target.
You travel through the desert and then hit the civilized areas just northwest of Basrah. The Iraqi government might not have the resources to monitor it.
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I meant NE of Hasakah along the border. I think one of 3 things happened. That ISIS passed through Kurdish territory to the south of the attack zone, The Turks do not have good control of the border there, or the Turks are allowing or helping ISIS in this region.
The trench was dug by the Iraqi's at the beginning of their occupation of Kuwait in the first Gulf War, if my memory serves me right. It had a military purpose. A friend of mine was a SGT MAJ of a combat engineer group that forced the berm for the marines.
Footnote: My friend was 1/7 Cav in Nam. Ended up in Los Alamos building things had some interesting stories about that place.
This trench was between Kuwait and Iraq not Iraq and Saudi Arabia or Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
I should have paid more attention.
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