Post by Origanalist on Aug 13, 2014 15:49:31 GMT -8
This picture is way out of date.
The Iraq War Officially Begins (Again): US Troops Prepare For Rollout As US Drones Strike ISIS Positions
U.S. military officials say an armed American MQ-1 Predator drone has attacked and destroyed a mortar position of Islamic militants in northern Iraq. As WaPo reports, the drone attack marks a departure for the U.S. military, which had said previously that drones were flying missions over Iraq only to collect intelligence. No boots hit the ground in the carrying out of this action...
As NBC reports,
An American MQ-1 drone strike took out a firing position that Islamic militants used to target Kurdish forces in northern Iraq, according to the U.S. military.
The military said in a statement that a U.S. drone struck and destroyed an ISIS mortar position at around 7:55 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
The mortar position was firing on Kurdish forces defending members of the Iraq's Yazidi religious minority who were trying to evacuate the area, U.S. Central command added.
Update:
U.S. SAID TO LAND TROOPS ON MT. SINJAR IN IRAQ, ABC NEWS SAYS
More: www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-13/call-duty-iraq-40-humanitarian-adviser-dronefare
That Short-Term, Narrowly Tailored Mission in Iraq Is Going to Last a Long Time, and Maybe Involve Ground Troops
When President Obama announced last week that he had authorized "limited airstrikes" in Iraq, he went out of his way to try to reassure those who were worried that the missiong would eventually lead to a lengthy, indefinite engagement and American troops once again fighting a ground war:
I know that many of you are rightly concerned about any American military action in Iraq, even limited strikes like these. I understand that. I ran for this office in part to end our war in Iraq and welcome our troops home, and that's what we've done. As Commander-in-Chief, I will not allow the United States to be dragged into fighting another war in Iraq. And so even as we support Iraqis as they take the fight to these terrorists, American combat troops will not be returning to fight in Iraq, because there's no American military solution to the larger crisis in Iraq.
In summary, the mission would be short-term, and narrowly targeted. The airstrikes had been authorized, but hadn't even happened. Maybe they wouldn't even be necessary.
To almost everyone's genuine puzzlement and surprise, however, it's not working out quite that way. Airstrikes began less than a day after they were authorized.
Less than a week has passed since the initial announcement, and it has already been updated and clarified. The mission's limits now seem less limiting. "I don’t think we’re going to solve this problem in weeks," Obama said on Sunday. "This is going to be a long-term project."
And now it looks like it's going to be a long-term project that may involve ground troops. Via The New York Times:
continued....reason.com/blog/2014/08/13/that-short-term-narrowly-tailored-missio
The Iraq War Officially Begins (Again): US Troops Prepare For Rollout As US Drones Strike ISIS Positions
U.S. military officials say an armed American MQ-1 Predator drone has attacked and destroyed a mortar position of Islamic militants in northern Iraq. As WaPo reports, the drone attack marks a departure for the U.S. military, which had said previously that drones were flying missions over Iraq only to collect intelligence. No boots hit the ground in the carrying out of this action...
As NBC reports,
An American MQ-1 drone strike took out a firing position that Islamic militants used to target Kurdish forces in northern Iraq, according to the U.S. military.
The military said in a statement that a U.S. drone struck and destroyed an ISIS mortar position at around 7:55 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
The mortar position was firing on Kurdish forces defending members of the Iraq's Yazidi religious minority who were trying to evacuate the area, U.S. Central command added.
Update:
U.S. SAID TO LAND TROOPS ON MT. SINJAR IN IRAQ, ABC NEWS SAYS
More: www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-13/call-duty-iraq-40-humanitarian-adviser-dronefare
That Short-Term, Narrowly Tailored Mission in Iraq Is Going to Last a Long Time, and Maybe Involve Ground Troops
When President Obama announced last week that he had authorized "limited airstrikes" in Iraq, he went out of his way to try to reassure those who were worried that the missiong would eventually lead to a lengthy, indefinite engagement and American troops once again fighting a ground war:
I know that many of you are rightly concerned about any American military action in Iraq, even limited strikes like these. I understand that. I ran for this office in part to end our war in Iraq and welcome our troops home, and that's what we've done. As Commander-in-Chief, I will not allow the United States to be dragged into fighting another war in Iraq. And so even as we support Iraqis as they take the fight to these terrorists, American combat troops will not be returning to fight in Iraq, because there's no American military solution to the larger crisis in Iraq.
In summary, the mission would be short-term, and narrowly targeted. The airstrikes had been authorized, but hadn't even happened. Maybe they wouldn't even be necessary.
To almost everyone's genuine puzzlement and surprise, however, it's not working out quite that way. Airstrikes began less than a day after they were authorized.
Less than a week has passed since the initial announcement, and it has already been updated and clarified. The mission's limits now seem less limiting. "I don’t think we’re going to solve this problem in weeks," Obama said on Sunday. "This is going to be a long-term project."
And now it looks like it's going to be a long-term project that may involve ground troops. Via The New York Times:
continued....reason.com/blog/2014/08/13/that-short-term-narrowly-tailored-missio