A pair of U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles fly over northern Iraq after conducting airstrikes in Syria, in this U.S. Air Force handout photo taken early in the morning of September 23, 2014.
Reuters/U.S. Air Force/Senior Airman Matthew Bruch/Handout/Files
Eli Lake, Bloomberg: U.S. Saw Islamic State Coming, Let It Take Ramadi
The U.S. watched Islamic State fighters, vehicles and heavy equipment gather on the outskirts of Ramadi before the group retook the city in mid-May. But the U.S. did not order airstrikes against the convoys before the battle started. It left the fighting to Iraqi troops, who ultimately abandoned their positions.
U.S. intelligence and military officials told me recently, on the condition of anonymity, that the U.S. had significant intelligence about the pending Islamic State offensive in Ramadi. For the U.S. military, it was an open secret even at the time.
WNU Editor: I am reading too many reports of targets not being hit, air strikes not being called in, and installations that are "untouchable". From my perspective .... someone is micro-managing this conflict, and if I was a betting man, my eyes would be on the Oval Office.
Update: US military pilots complain hands tied in ‘frustrating’ fight against ISIS -- FOX News
2 comments:
WNU
What do you think the reasons for not hitting the targets are?
James you to, any theories?
To me it looks like there baiting the Shia militias to a meat grinder.
Don't know phill. Has to be a political decision and WNU's pointing at the White House rings pretty true. I do think that all "execute" orders for each individual bomb release must originate from the White House, not necessarily from Obama everytime, but definitely under a program reviewed and signed off on by him.
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