Whether you're a fervent supporter of fighting head on, or more in-tune with a political settlement, it may have seemed inevitable that the U.S. step up its military involvement against Daesh. However you slice it, the expansion of a military operations by the U.S. in Iraq and Syria is set to take place. This comes to significance with Secretary of Defense Ash Carter saying on December 1st, "In full co-ordination with the government of Iraq, we're deploying a specialized expeditionary targeting force to assist Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces"; this will also be accompanied by 'unilateral operations' in Syria. As a part of their mission, U.S. Special Forces will be infiltrating enemy strongholds, freeing hostages and capturing the leaders of Daesh. While it was noted that Special Forces would be put into place, their specialization or strength, in terms of numbers, has not been disclosed. Keep in mind that even though we are putting boots on the ground, this is a rather small scale escalation of involvement in the area and will likely constitute no major military confrontations between U.S. and Daesh forces. Defense Secretary Carter has additionally stated that, ""This is an important capability because it takes advantage of what we're good at,". This goes in tandem with the United States' immense amount of intelligent gathered not only by itself, but by its allies as well. Fundamentally, the operations by the 'expeditionary forces' are to be completely intelligence driven with little mercy in mind for enemies in the area. This being said, unlike the Iraq war, the United States does not have the pieces in place to put forward any major campaigns in the area, resulting in an increased reliance upon Iraqi military-intelligence.
A U.S. led coalition of 65 nations is actively fighting in Iraq and Syria.
What are your opinions on the matter? Is this kind of military escalation necessary? Is this what Daesh wants? Has Daesh been effective in frustrating and possibly causing irrational decisions by our leaders?
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/12/01/defense-secretary-ash-carter-announces-new-commando-unit-to-deploy-to-isis-fight
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34977977
http://jpupdates.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/150212-carter_confirmation-1450_56dbcd5d99c56da6573370b0e9189819.jpg
3 comments:
It's hard to say whether or not Daesh anticipated this sort of military escalation, but it's been a long time coming.The small-scale actions France took seems to confirm this sort of an escalation. However, as long as our military involvement is small, I see no reason to be terribly concerned. Of course, this could blow up in our faces tremendously if it spurs Daesh to initiate further terrorist attacks.
From the recent horror stories of what is happening in the Middle East and neighboring countries, it was only a matter of time before the US stepped into the mix. I do agree with the small-scale advancement of the United States, being that the vast majority of the troops deployed would be assisting with training of militants fighting the Daesh. If they actually engage in combat with the Daesh, it is a different story. While not fully at war, I agree with what the4th3rd said in terms of the backlash that could occur from this new advancement. This could very well end with more terrorist attacks on the United States and other countries, but we have to take the risk. I do not believe this is what the Daesh wanted. I believe that they wanted to aggravate countries to the point where the people were fearful of them, not to the point that they were actively being threatened by countries immensely stronger than them.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/12/02/440020/US-Syria-Daesh-Russia
I think that in general, the U.S. should intervene more in the Middle East. An entire issue of the journal Foreign Policy was dedicated to this subject mere weeks before the Paris attacks took place. If we are picky and choosy about who we support, especially when motivated by oil we come across as hypocritical and greedy. If there are human rights abuses and terrorist activity, we should do something. Now that nearly everyone in the world has found a common enemy in ISIS, we should definitely take more forthright military action. If we don't not only will Russia fill the power vacuum in the region, but even more terrorism will continue.
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