U.S. coalition warplanes in Syrian airspace after conducting air strikes against ISIS militants. (File photo: Reuters)
Trevor Timm, The Guardian: We're a year into the unofficial war against Isis with nothing to show for it
But don’t take it from me – that’s the conclusion of the US intelligence community itself. Its a tragic waste with no clear goal and no end in sight
This Saturday marks one full year since the US military began its still-undeclared war against Islamic State that the government officials openly acknowledge will last indefinitely. What do we have to show for it? So far, billions of dollars have been spent, thousands of bombs have been dropped, hundreds of civilians have been killed and Isis is no weaker than it was last August, when the airstrikes began.
But don’t take it from me – that’s the conclusion of the US intelligence community itself. As the Associated Press reported a few days ago, the consensus view of the US intelligence agencies is that Isis is just as powerful as it was a year ago, and they can replace fighters faster than they are getting killed.
WNU Editor: The reason why there is no forward progress in the war against the Islamic State is that there is no political will in Washington (or U.S. public support) to get involved (on a massive scale) in another Middle Eastern war. Our allies in the Middle East are also deeply divided on what to do in countering the rise of the Islamic State .... with most of these governments having their own agendas and priorities. My prediction .... a year from now there will still be no progress in this war, and in fact we will be seeing an Islamic State even more deeply entrenched and formidable.
2 comments:
Perhaps the objective is to delay until the Islamic State becomes an actual State, so they can negotiate with them (and perhaps hobble them with all the trappings that come with foreign relations like treaties, deals, and trade agreements.)
If that's the plan, the Caliphate will be a big state by then.
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