Officials are loudly trumpeting the idea that, with the fall of al-Qaim in Iraq and Abu Kamal in Syria, ISIS is “defeated,” and has lost their “last” strongholds in both countries. In reality, ISIS fighters have been taking to the desert for weeks on end in both countries.
US officials seem to have been fully aware of this, even as they cheered the “victories” in the war, and US forces are scrambling to set up a series of desert outposts across the remote parts of western Iraq.
The small, report outposts reflect how big of a “front line” the desert is, and how much ground there is to cover in trying to have US troops in the area whenever fighting breaks out. It also means small numbers of US troops in remote areas, which also seems like it makes them ambush targets.
The US presence is likely to ultimately span both sides of the border, with an unknown number of US troops also in the eastern Syrian desert, which is also awash in ISIS forces. With the US also talking up preventing a “Iran to Beirut” string of Shi’ite-held territory, these forces setting up shop in Sunni territory are likely to be setting the stage for clashes against Shi’ite militias as well in the long run.
I wonder if ISIS ever really left the desert. They are likely not taking to it, running out into the desert, but rather consolidating where they are strongest. That is a very different image.
That’s what’s needed: small outposts that can be overrun quickly and easily. Really great idea. How about the US coming home and leaving these countries to pick their own battles and sort out their own relationships.
The Russian high command released photos about a month or so ago that showed that when US forces were moving through ISIS controlled territory they didn’t even bother to dig-in with temporary defenses nor to put out scouts and lookouts to watch out for attack.
In other words, they acted as if ISIS territory was completely safe for them and that they did not fear attack from the evil, awful, ISIS headchoppers. The Russians had lots of aerial/satelite photos showing exactly that.
This of course was not accurately reported by the CIA’s house-organ at WaPo.
But the bottom line is that the US military does not seem at all concerned about the possibility of ambush attacks from ISIS. That’s the real news story behind this further example of putting little penny-packets of US troops scattered through US territory.
I started to try to point out that I’d made a typo at the very end where I said US territory instead of ISIS territory. Then I decided that either was accurate and that there is no real difference between saying ISIS territory or US territory.
They’re busy evacuating ISIS fighters from the SAA/Hexbolleh advancing on the west bank of the Tigris. To where you might ask. Me too.
Saddam Hussein had this down to an art and none of these terrorist outfits ever managed to survive in Iraq. Syria had it under control as well.
Maybe the USA should revert to what worked in the past and try cooperation, because this outpost idea is stupid.
So the USA is still pretending it is on the side fighting terrorists, while demonstrably aiding them at every point. GO HOME YANKS.
The US?NATO has a massive SF base at Al Tanf inside Syria. Why don’t they turn around and head south removing NW Iraq from ISIS and leaving Syria to the Syrians.