US officials continue to hype the “spring offensive” during which the Iraqi government will try to retake the largest ISIS-held city, Mosul. Increasingly, they are conceding that US ground troops will be playing a role, though exactly how big of a role is somewhat unclear.
The official plan right now is to deploy five Iraqi brigades, 25,000 troops, against the city where between 1,000 and 2,000 ISIS fighters are setting up defenses. More ISIS reinforcements are likely.
Despite hugely outnumbering ISIS, the ineffectiveness of Iraq’s ground troops has many US officials, and even some Iraqi military leaders, saying they probably won’t be able to handle it on their own, even with Kurdish help.
And even with heavy US air support, US officials are saying US ground troops are to be brought in “if necessary,” and almost everyone believes it will be necessary, as ISIS isn’t going to give up Mosul without a fight.
In recent weeks the US has been massing a large number of combat troops in Kuwait for just such an eventuality, and within the next couple of months seems to have a ready-made excuse for launching the ground war they’ve repeatedly “ruled out.”
The most recent indications from US officials are that the attack on Mosul will be happening some time around April. ISIS has held Mosul since late summer, and with so much lead time has had plenty of opportunity to shore up its defenses.
Dang, whaddya think is gonna happen when the first American POW gets his head handed to him by ISIS?
That will whip up the Amerikan sheeple into a freenzie and the War Party and MIC will have their forever ground war.
But that will make the War Party including Billy Kristol and Johnny McWar dance in the streets to their favorite song.
Stalingrad, desert-style. I hope everyone brings plenty of body bags to the party.
On the other hand, when Mosul's civilians start getting killed by US bombs and artilery, whose side do you think they're going to turn to for weapons to defend themselves? In addition to the potential 2,000 ISIS fighters you're looking at about a million civilians who may decide they don't like us after all.
I predict the Iraqis will not be able to take Mosul back without outside help. The problem is that they don't have a deep seated sense of attachment to their country because its not a real country. If they wanted to, they could launch their offensive now. Why wait for spring?
The idea of US troops helping those Iraqis is ludicrous. If the Iraqis don't have the courage to "save" their country from ISIS, why on earth is it the responsibility of the United States? What would the US be saving?