Since the US began its air war against ISIS in Syria last week, the majority of the strikes have centered around the Kurdish town of Kobani, trying to stop ISIS from taking the key town along the Syria-Turkey border.
The Kurdish forces still trying to defend the town, however, warn that the airstrikes aren’t working, and that ISIS is simply evading the strikes and continuing its advance against Kobani (Ayn al-Arab in Arabic).
The Kurdish fighters on the ground tried to spin this as proof that they need ground troops and heavy weapons to fight ISIS, adding to a chorus from Congressional hawks like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R – SC) demanding an immediate ground war in Syria.
The reality, though, is that this is just one more sign that the ISIS war in general was ill-conceived and not going to work, and while some factions on the ground might squeeze near-term benefits out of a dramatic further escalation, the war itself seems to be continuing on in spite of its own failing nature, with a momentum all its own.
"….the war itself seems to be continuing on in spite of its own failing nature, with a momentum all its own…"
Whether the war is failing or succeeding is irrelevant because the war is designed to continue regardless. Any military student in a battlefield strategy class would FAIL if they presented this as a battlefield solution…and probably informed they should seek another form of making a living, preferably where someone else's lives weren't in their hands.