US’ plan to fight against Islamic State must undergo significant changes

 
Sept. 26, 2014 - PRLog -- The United States’ plan for combat against the radical terrorism group “Islamic State” (IS) in Iraq and Syria is not effective enough and must be rethought, says Ahmed Hashim, military studies researcher at the Nanyang Technological University, in the article titled “Defeating IS: Will the Obama strategy succeed?” published in several foreign media sources.

As the analyst recalls, the anti-IS plan described by the US President Barack Obama on September 10, 2014, is made of six points: significant expansion of drone airstrikes against the Islamic State; training and equipping the Iraqi Army and the Kurdish Peshmerga; provision of assistance to the Syrian rebels; creation of a coalition of European and Eastern countries to fight the terrorists; and not having any US ground forces in the endangered countries.

According to the expert, the airstrikes that began in mid-August have successfully slowed down the IS’ pace and even allowed the dispirited Iraqi Army and the Kurds to take back several settlements.

“However, in places like Tikrit the Iraqi Army’s Special Forces have been unable to budge IS from its gains,” the author stresses.

In his opinion, the reason behind such failures hides in the fact that the Islamic State’s enemies place too much emphasis on the air-to-ground strikes.

“IS members have learned the lessons of airpower against concentrated ground forces. They have begun to disperse, to tunnel, to camouflage and to go to ground in the cities,” Ahmed Hashim writes.

He points out that bombing attacks are perfect for destroying the enemy’s support buildings. However, they are much less effective for fighting against the terrorist group, and may force the radical Islamists to resort to using much more destructive combat tactics.

“If IS transforms into a ‘subterranean animal,’ it will regress from mobile lightning war back to pure terrorism, a tactic in which it is thoroughly adept,” the author stresses.

In his opinion, airstrikes in Syria will be highly ineffective. On that point, the expert suspects that the US has personal interests in these strikes with absolutely no connection to the fight against the Islamic State.

“Is the proposed bombing campaign in Syria really about weakening IS or about weakening the regime of Bashar al-Assad?” Ahmed Hashim questions.

At the same time, he believes that training and equipping the Iraqi and Kurdish forces is not yet a guarantee of success, either.

“The Iraqi Army is a victim of the failures of the body politic. The US could throw all the best equipment in the world at the Iraqis but it will not make a difference until the societal problems of the country are addressed,” the expert thinks.

From his point of view, the tainting consequences of corruption and sectarian tensions in the country’s armed forces showed themselves during the fighting in Mosul this July, where as few as 800 IS terrorists managed to wrestle the city from 30 thousand elite troops.

The Kurdish Peshmerga are much better disciplined; however, as the analyst points out, they are still not solid in their command and organization.

The author also has great doubts about the plans to arm the Syrian rebels, highlighting the fact that the US completely overlooked the way their intentions and aims have changed throughout the last decades.

“The Syrian rebels are not moderate – three years of savage civil war have seen to that – and most are feckless and incapable of dealing with IS,” the researcher stresses.

Examining the intentions to create a united European-Eastern coalition, Ahmed Hashim urges the strategists to plan out the division of labor in advance. In his opinion, Britain, France and Australia – Washington’s strongest allies – must provide the bulk of assistance.

The expert also notes that fighting against the Islamic State effectively one way or another requires the presence of ground force in the region.

In conclusion, the analyst says that the anti-IS strategy in its current form is not as effective as needed.

In his opinion, the present state requires to limit the scale of drone airstrikes and effective use of American and European Special Operations Forces.

At the same time, Ahmed Hashim urges to fight against the Islamists not just with weapons, but diplomacy.

“IS cannot be defeated purely by military means. The US must engage politically and diplomatically with the Kurds and the central government in Iraq,” he writes.

Moreover, Ahmed Hashim thinks that the US and the allies must diversify the anti-IS combat tactics, and actively stand against “Al Qaeda” and the other radical Islamism groups that carefully watch the war theater in Iraq and Syria, looking for an opportunity to make a sudden strike.

Full text news agency "PenzaNews": http://penzanews.ru/en/opinion/56444-2014
End
Source: » Follow
Email:***@penzanews.ru Email Verified
Tags:Islamic State
Industry:Government
Subject:Reports
Account Email Address Verified     Account Phone Number Verified     Disclaimer     Report Abuse
PenzaNews PRs
Trending News
Most Viewed
Top Daily News



Like PRLog?
9K2K1K
Click to Share