Posted on May 29, 2015
Analysis: Against IS, airstrikes may not suffice
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Analysis: Airstrikes against Islamic State may not be sufficient. Now what?
It is the modern era's military strategy of choice: overwhelming air power delivering precision-guided punishment backed by intelligence on the ground, with minimal exposure for soldiers of the striking side.
Seductive though it is to risk-averse governments with war-weary publics, the approach has its limits — and these are on display in Syria and Iraq, where a U.S.-led coalition has carried out over 4,100 airstrikes against Islamic State radicals yet failed to stop the extremists.
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/2015/05/27/analysis-against-is-airstrikes-may-not-suffice/28035009/
It is the modern era's military strategy of choice: overwhelming air power delivering precision-guided punishment backed by intelligence on the ground, with minimal exposure for soldiers of the striking side.
Seductive though it is to risk-averse governments with war-weary publics, the approach has its limits — and these are on display in Syria and Iraq, where a U.S.-led coalition has carried out over 4,100 airstrikes against Islamic State radicals yet failed to stop the extremists.
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/2015/05/27/analysis-against-is-airstrikes-may-not-suffice/28035009/
Iraq
ISIS
War on Terror
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 14
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Time for a reality check! While tons of expensive ordnance is dumped ineffectively on the Islamic State. There can be no victory without leadership. Our Nation is 18 trillion dollars in debt and conducting a war without the will to win, and Social Programs that can't give money away fast enough. Remember it was Debt that brought down the Iron Curtain, Russia's spending on missile defense systems and other military programs. Are we following the same path to destruction?
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GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad
I agree PO3 Bob Walsh -- as I have said many times before, the U.S. simply cannot afford to continue along the path it is on because it is only a matter of time before we spend ourselves into oblivion.
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Is anyone surprised? I doubt if anyone in this forum is. We all have some form of military experience. Sadly, those making the decisions don't.
What may not be known by all is that the rules of engagement have been especially onerous during this period. Pilots are only flying a handful of sorties each day compared to many hundreds during the Invasion of Iraq. Then they have to wait, sometimes hours, for authorization to pull the trigger. How many planes can loiter over a target for hours? How many targets loiter for hours waiting to be attacked?
This is a real cluster f*** and they need an "analysis"? I'd gladly provide them with the conclusions they need to hear for a fraction of whatever they paid. Sadly, I doubt that they would listen to me any more than they have listened to their military advisers. I am assuming, of course, that the military advisers aren't tripping over their political ideology, are they?
What may not be known by all is that the rules of engagement have been especially onerous during this period. Pilots are only flying a handful of sorties each day compared to many hundreds during the Invasion of Iraq. Then they have to wait, sometimes hours, for authorization to pull the trigger. How many planes can loiter over a target for hours? How many targets loiter for hours waiting to be attacked?
This is a real cluster f*** and they need an "analysis"? I'd gladly provide them with the conclusions they need to hear for a fraction of whatever they paid. Sadly, I doubt that they would listen to me any more than they have listened to their military advisers. I am assuming, of course, that the military advisers aren't tripping over their political ideology, are they?
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