This actually makes sense, especially with Russia and Iran and Iraq and all the Sunni nations also fighting ISIS right now too. This now could realistically be called a "World War" against ISIS. It will be good for Russia, Iran, the U.S. and all other countries to fight some foe together. It hasn't been this way since World War II defeating the Nazis. It is my belief that one reason the Cold War never came to nuking the whole world out of existence was because during World War II Russia was a one of the allies fighting the Nazis. So, we were on the same team for about 5 years or so then.
Obama to Send Special Operations Forces to Help Fight ISIS in Syria
| New York Times | - |
WASHINGTON
- President Obama will deploy a small number of American Special
Operations forces to Kurdish-controlled territory in northern Syria to
help local forces fight the Islamic State, the White House announced on
Friday.
WASHINGTON — President Obama will deploy a small number of American Special Operations forces to Kurdish-controlled territory in northern Syria to help local forces fight the Islamic State, the White House announced on Friday.
The team will advise and assist opposition forces who are fighting the Islamic State militant group in Syria,
providing smoother and quicker access to equipment and logistical help,
an official said before the announcement. The decision adds a new level
of risk to the Syrian enterprise, as it could bring the Special
Operations troops into closer contact with the Islamic State, even if
they are in Kurdish territory.
While
administration officials characterized the deployment as an enhancement
of current strategy, it is actually a huge shift for a president who
has said repeatedly that he will not put American combat boots on the
ground in Syria.
The
White House said that the number of Special Forces troops who would
deploy to northern Syria would be “fewer than 50” and that their mission
would be to help coordinate local ground forces and coalition efforts
to counter the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
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In
addition, Mr. Obama has authorized deploying A-10 Warthog planes and
F-15 fighter jets to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, and has instructed his
advisers to consult with the Iraqi government about establishing a
Special Operations task force to further efforts to target Islamic State
leaders there. He also ordered more military assistance to Jordan and
Lebanon.
But
administration officials emphasized that Mr. Obama saw the military
efforts as supporting Secretary of State John Kerry’s push for a
diplomatic and political settlement to the Syrian war, with talks
underway in Vienna.
“The
president has been quite clear that there is no military solution” to
the war in Syria, said Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary.
“There is a political one.”
Mr.
Earnest insisted that “our strategy in Syria hasn’t changed” and that
“these forces do not have a combat mission.” But he also said that the
deployment of even a few dozen troops could make a difference by helping
local forces that are fighting the Islamic State.
“I
certainly wouldn’t underestimate the capability and capacity of our
U.S. Special Operations forces to be an important force multiplier,” he
said. “The president does expect that they can have an impact in
intensifying our strategy for building local forces inside Syria for
taking the fight to ISIL in their own territory.”
Mr.
Obama spoke by telephone on Friday with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi
of Iraq to discuss the campaign against the Islamic State and to
encourage Iraqi efforts to retake the city of Ramadi.
Other
steps were outlined earlier this week by Defense Secretary Ashton B.
Carter and Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff. They said the United States would provide more equipment to
groups fighting the Islamic State in Syria and increase efforts to help
Iraq retake Ramadi.
The
Pentagon wants to build a firewall behind forces allied with the United
States — both the Kurds and the Syrian-Arab coalition backed by Mr.
Obama — to allow these fighters to hold what territory they have
captured. Part of the way to do that, one Defense Department official
said, is to ensure that equipment is delivered and that subsequent
supplies will reach these forces quickly.
“We
want a direct line to these forces,” the official said, speaking on the
condition of anonymity. “It’s imperative that they can get what they
need when they need it.”
While
Mr. Obama and his administration have maintained publicly that they are
not putting American combat boots on the ground in Iraq or Syria, the
definition of combat has changed several times since the United States
began airstrikes against the Islamic State in August 2014. Special
Operations forces have conducted several secret missions on the ground
into Syria and Iraq.
Graphic
Who Has Gained Ground in Syria Since Russia Began Its Airstrikes
The full impact of Russian airstrikes on the Syrian war
has yet to be realized, but some shifts have occurred in recent weeks.
In
May, Delta Force commandos entered Syria aboard Black Hawk helicopters
and V-22 Ospreys and killed an Islamic State leader and about a dozen
militant fighters. They also captured the leader’s wife and freed an
18-year-old Yazidi woman who Pentagon officials said had been held as a
slave.
Last
summer, two dozen Delta Force commandos raided an oil refinery in the
northern part of Syria as part of an effort to free James Foley, an
American journalist, but found after a firefight that he and other
hostages were not there. Mr. Foley was later beheaded by the Islamic
State.
And
just last week, an American soldier was killed in action in Iraq for
the first time since the renewed military intervention last year, during
a Kurdish and United States commando raid to free prisoners being held
by Islamic State militants. Some 70 prisoners were freed, American and
Iraqi officials said.
At
a briefing earlier this week, Mr. Earnest repeated that the troops were
not engaged in a combat mission, but that there would be instances when
American troops were in combat situations.
“The
mission that our men and women in that region of the world have is
quite different than the long-term, large-scale combat mission that they
were given by President Bush in 2003,” Mr. Earnest said. “The situation
now, while it continues to be dangerous, and while those men and women
in uniform face a risk that we would certainly not downplay, there’s no
denying that the mission that they’re carrying out is quite different.”
The
president’s decision drew a scornful response from at least one
prominent Democrat. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, an Obama ally who
served as the party’s chairman, quickly released a statement noting that
a year ago Mr. Obama “stated that American combat troops would not be
returning to the fight in Iraq” but that now there were more than 3,500
American troops in Iraq.
Mr.
Kaine said he supported Mr. Obama’s diplomatic efforts in Vienna to
find a solution to the Syrian war, but noted “the incongruity to
pursuing political discussions while at the same time ramping up our
U.S. military presence in Syria to address half the problem.”
“ISIL, but not Assad,” he continued, referring to the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.
While
calling on Congress to take up the question of authorizing the war, Mr.
Kaine said, “It is also time for the administration to propose a
unified strategy to address the intertwined challenges posed by ISIL and
President Assad.”
Republicans
called the latest move too little and too late given Russia’s
intervention in Syria and the failure to change the overall dynamics in
the years leading up to it.
“Putting
small numbers of troops in Syria is yet another tactical move in the
absence of a comprehensive strategy for Iraq, Syria and the broader
Middle East that does nothing more than create the appearance of serious
action,” said Representative Kevin McCarthy, the Republican majority
leader from California.
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