Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com – 2014-09-25 02:16:31
US Airstrikes in Syria Don’t Slow ISIS Offensive
Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com
(On September 24, 2014) — US and coalition airstrikes continue to pound ISIS in Syria, with the latest attacks focusing on ISIS fighters advancing into the Kurdish area around Ayn al-Arab in northern Syria.
Despite that area being the new focus of the airstrikes, the attacks do not appear to be slowing ISIS even a little, as the group continues to press ahead into more Kurdish villages, and civilians continue to flee into neighboring Turkey.
“Those air strikes are not important,” noted one of the refugees, who called for US troops on the ground to retake the villages for the Kurdish factions there.
The ISIS battles with Syrian Kurds seem to be a major source of pressure for US involvement in Syria, with influential Kurdish factions trying to paint Ayn al-Arab with the same false narrative of humanitarian calamity as Mount Sinjar, which was the initial pretext for the US attacks in Iraq.
In Iraq, the US airstrikes are being done nominally to aid Kurdish fighters on the ground, and that’s had little success either. Officials continue to insist the US isn’t considering ground operations, though they continue to escalate the war in ways that are adding to pressure to commit boots on the ground, pointing to a lack of planning or an intention to eventually renege on the promise of no ground troops.
ISIS War to Last Years;
US Doing Vast Majority of Strikes
Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com
(September 24, 2014) — Pentagon officials sought to downplay the day-to-day situation in Syria and Iraq, saying it’s time for Americans to stay thinking of the ISIS war in terms of years.
The Obama Administration has tried to reassure Americans about what is shaping up to be many, many years of war by insisting they are only part of a world-wide coalition.
Yet despite all the hype around Arab nations’ involvement in the Syria strikes, the Pentagon confirmed that the US is carrying out the vast majority of the strikes. Unsurprising, since many of the coalition members aren’t expected to actually do anything related to the war.
The costs of the US war are expected to continue to mount, with the latest estimates of $1.5 billion per month likely to be a drop in the bucket as the administration continues to escalate the conflict alarmingly on a weekly basis, adding goals and targets. It’s going to be a pricey war, for many years to come.
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