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View Full Version : Pentagon plan to seize Raqqa calls for significant increase in U.S. participation



Peter1469
03-05-2017, 04:39 PM
Pentagon plan to seize Raqqa calls for significant increase in U.S. participation (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pentagon-plan-to-seize-raqqa-calls-for-significant-increase-in-us-participation/2017/03/04/d3205386-00f3-11e7-8f41-ea6ed597e4ca_story.html?utm_term=.160419295817)

Hopefully Trump will not accept a plan that can turn into a quagmire for the US.


A Pentagon plan for the coming assault on Raqqa (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/10/25/with-the-battle-for-mosul-underway-u-s-sets-sights-on-isis-capital-of-raqqa/?utm_term=.fac3f9d58499), the Islamic State capital in Syria, calls for significant U.S. military participation, including increased Special Operations forces, attack helicopters and artillery, and arms supplies to the main Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighting force on the ground, according to U.S. officials.

The military’s favored option among several variations currently under White House review, the proposal would ease a number of restrictions on U.S. activities imposed during the Obama administration.


Officials involved in the planning have proposed lifting a cap on the size of the U.S. military contingent in Syria, currently numbering about 500 Special Operations trainers and advisers to the combined Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF. While the Americans would not be directly involved in ground combat, the proposal would allow them to work closer to the front line and would delegate more decision-making authority down the military line from Washington.

Read more at the link.

Don
03-05-2017, 06:32 PM
We never should have been there in the first place. We played political stand off with Cuba for all those years when having a communist base that close to our shores was more of a danger to us but think we should enter a conflict thousands of miles away using protecting people from a dictator as an excuse. We have another ally thousands of miles away in Taiwan but we kicked them off the security council and have kissed communist China's ass ever since. Its Orwellian. "Who are we at war with Winston?"

Peter1469
03-05-2017, 07:25 PM
Assad was certainly better from a US perspective than Sunni Islamists would be.

Don
03-05-2017, 07:48 PM
Assad was certainly better from a US perspective than Sunni Islamists would be.

Plus I think Israel had a pretty good handle on keeping Syria contained. Especially when we didn't interfere with them doing so. They are Israels neighbor. I think the only thing we should even consider is helping to maintain a balance of power in the region. No aid to Israels enemies and only aid Israel as much as other countries aid the other countries in the area. I mean if Russia gives military aid to Assad we could give an equal amount to Israel to offset any advantage. Military aid, no troops or regime change schemes.

Dr. Who
03-05-2017, 07:59 PM
Assad was certainly better from a US perspective than Sunni Islamists would be.

Follow the money. Assad has banished the US dollar from commerce in Syria. That precedent cannot be allowed to stand. If other OPEC nations were to follow suit, it would be the end of the petrodollar and the beginning of the end of U.S. financial hegemony. Recently Britain and Australia joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. By doing so, they are effectively endorsing Beijing's effort to establish financial rivals to the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), which are dominated by America.

Peter1469
03-05-2017, 08:08 PM
That is a very good explanation for Obama's otherwise inexplicable actions in Syria.

Follow the money. Assad has banished the US dollar from commerce in Syria. That precedent cannot be allowed to stand. If other OPEC nations were to follow suit, it would be the end of the petrodollar and the beginning of the end of U.S. financial hegemony. Recently Britain and Australia joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. By doing so, they are effectively endorsing Beijing's effort to establish financial rivals to the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), which are dominated by America.

Dr. Who
03-05-2017, 08:22 PM
That is a very good explanation for Obama's otherwise inexplicable actions in Syria.

I don't see it changing under this regime either. It is not politicians who are making these decisions.

Peter1469
03-05-2017, 08:32 PM
I don't see it changing under this regime either. It is not politicians who are making these decisions.

I agree

Peter1469
06-26-2017, 05:02 PM
U.S.-backed Syrian groups take Raqqa district from Islamic State (https://ca.news.yahoo.com/u-backed-syrian-groups-raqqa-district-islamic-state-203306556.html)
Kurd and Arab forces backed up by the US are capturing parts of the city.


A U.S.-backed Syrian coalition of Kurdish and Arab groups advanced against Islamic State in the jihadists' Syrian capital of Raqqa on Sunday, taking the al-Qadisia district, they said.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began its assault on Raqqa earlier this month after a long campaign to isolate Islamic State inside the city.


It took Qadisia, located in the west of Raqqa, after three days of intense fighting, it said in a statement on one of its official social media feeds.


The SDF has pushed Islamic State from swathes of northern Syria over the past 18 months. Turkey-backed Syrian rebels have also taken territory from it and the Syrian army has this year advanced rapidly against it in desert areas.


The U.S.-backed coalition has supported SDF advances against the jihadist group throughout the Raqqa campaign with artillery and air strikes, including some against Islamic State leaders.

Peter1469
06-30-2017, 06:39 PM
U.S.-Backed Syrian Forces Encircle Islamic State In Raqqa Stronghold (https://www.rferl.org/a/us-backed-syrian-forces-encircle-islamic-state-in-raqqa-stronghold/28587447.html)
Raqqa is soon to fall to the allies.


U.S.-backed forces have completely encircled the Islamic State extremist group's self-proclaimed capital in northern Syria after cutting off the last remaining escape route, a monitoring group and military officials said.The Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S.-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, "have completely surrounded and besieged the Islamist militants inside Al-Raqqa city from all sides," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said late on June 29.


The gains for anti-IS forces in Syria came as Iraqi forces announced the recapture of an iconic mosque in IS's last major Iraqi bastion Mosul, prompting Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi to declare "the end" of the "fake" extremist state.


Raqqa has been under IS control since 2014.

Read more at the link.

Peter1469
07-23-2017, 05:08 PM
Pentagon: Rebel forces taking heavy casualties in Raqqa fight

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/07/pentagon-syria-rebel-forces-battle-raqqa-islamic-state.html#ixzz4nh9z7mQX

The Arab / Krudish alliance is taking heavy casualties in the battle for Raqqa.


Despite stiff resistance from improvised explosive devices, car bombs and even drones, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have now entered the Old City of Raqqa, breaking through a seventh-century wall laden with explosives where IS has been holding out. The contingent of Arab and Kurdish soldiers (http://al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/06/syria-isis-losses-deir-ez-zor-mines-civilians-flee.html) number between 30,000 and 40,000.
Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said casualty numbers are “absolutely” rising in the ongoing battle, now in its sixth week. The Defense Department did not provide any figures behind the loss assessment.


Despite continued losses, Davis said that the Syrian effort to dislodge IS would be sustainable over the long haul. This effort is set to receive an infusion of weapons, vehicles and tactical military gear in the Senate’s new defense spending bill.


“We knew that Raqqa was going to be very hard,” Davis said. “It’s a stop-and-go effort by its very nature.”


Nearly two dozen airstrikes launched by the US-led coalition in Syria have helped the SDF offset sniper fire and IEDs to take nearly a square mile of ground, including a high-rise complex, in a three-pronged advance over the weekend.


Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/07/pentagon-syria-rebel-forces-battle-raqqa-islamic-state.html#ixzz4nhAGIZqt

Peter1469
08-01-2017, 07:30 PM
Pentagon says US-backed forces have almost surrounded Raqqa

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/07/pentagon-us-backed-forces-sdf-raqqa-islamic-state-syria.html#ixzz4oYMZ7SwS


US-backed Syrian rebels have cleared nearly half of the Islamic State (http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/07/turkey-syria-iraq-is-demise-isis-near.html)’s (IS) stronghold of Raqqa and are close to surrounding the city, Pentagon officials said today.

Soldiers from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a mix of Arab and Kurdish combatants, retook nearly 4 square miles around the embattled Syrian city over the weekend.That force, which receives small arms, vehicles and training from the United States, fought through improvised explosive devices (http://al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/06/syria-isis-losses-deir-ez-zor-mines-civilians-flee.html) (IEDs), booby traps and car bombs that ring the Old City, where a small pocket of IS fighters remain.


Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/07/pentagon-us-backed-forces-sdf-raqqa-islamic-state-syria.html#ixzz4oYMjdl7G