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U.S. to Put 'Boots on the Ground' in Iraq to Combat ISIL.
Here we go boys and girls...
Defense Secretary Carter announces plans to deploy 101st Airborne Division in latest escalation of war.
By Adam Johnson / AlterNet January 22, 2016
In an op-ed in Politico and in an appearance at Davos World Economic Forum Friday morning, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced the U.S. will deploy "boots on the ground" in Iraq to help local forces fight the so-called Islamic State. The policy shift is a turnaround from the Obama's White House's previous stance of not deploying combat troops in Iraq and one sure to shape the foreign policy debate in the 2016 election.
Though the U.S. military presence in Iraq has been steadily growing over the past year-and-a-half this marks the first time an express acknowledgment of ground troops has been made by a senior official. The first of such deployments will, according to Sec. Carter, be the 101st Airborne Division
"Soldiers in the storied 101st Airborne Division will soon deploy to Iraq to join the fight against ISIL," Carter wrote in Politico. "They will head there with the support of the American people and armed with a clear campaign plan to deliver the barbaric organization a lasting defeat, which I personally shared with them last week at Fort Campbell."
By Adam Johnson / AlterNet January 22, 2016
In an op-ed in Politico and in an appearance at Davos World Economic Forum Friday morning, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced the U.S. will deploy "boots on the ground" in Iraq to help local forces fight the so-called Islamic State. The policy shift is a turnaround from the Obama's White House's previous stance of not deploying combat troops in Iraq and one sure to shape the foreign policy debate in the 2016 election.
Though the U.S. military presence in Iraq has been steadily growing over the past year-and-a-half this marks the first time an express acknowledgment of ground troops has been made by a senior official. The first of such deployments will, according to Sec. Carter, be the 101st Airborne Division
"Soldiers in the storied 101st Airborne Division will soon deploy to Iraq to join the fight against ISIL," Carter wrote in Politico. "They will head there with the support of the American people and armed with a clear campaign plan to deliver the barbaric organization a lasting defeat, which I personally shared with them last week at Fort Campbell."
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/us-put-boots-ground-iraq-combat-isil
Ash Carter's Op-ed in Politico: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/ash-carter-isil-fight-213554
Ash Carter: It’s Time to Accelerate the ISIL Fight
The storied 101st Airborne Division will soon deploy 1,800 troops to Iraq to aid in the fight against ISIL. They will head there with the support of the American people and armed with a clear campaign plan to help our allies deliver the barbaric organization a lasting defeat, which I personally shared with them last week at Fort Campbell. I also traveled to U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida, where I discussed the plan’s implementation with our top commanders. And this week I visited Paris, a city of determination and resolve, to discuss the plan with our allies.
In Paris, French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian and I co-hosted our counterparts from Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Britain. Those countries have been the biggest contributors to the counter-ISIL campaign. The military actions that the United States and our partners have taken in recent months have applied unprecedented pressure on ISIL in Iraq and Syria. In recent weeks, ISIL has lost territory, lost key leaders and even lost some of its cash and oil. We are gathering momentum on a number of fronts and are determined to put ISIL on an irreversible path to lasting defeat. Now is the time to do even more.
ISIL is a cancer that threatens to spread. And like all cancers, you can’t cure the disease just by cutting out the tumor. You have to eliminate it wherever it has spread, and stop it from coming back. The coalition military campaign plan the United States has developed, and which our key allies support, focuses on three military objectives: One, destroy the ISIL parent tumor in Iraq and Syria by collapsing its two power centers in Mosul, Iraq and Raqqah, Syria. These cities constitute ISIL’s military, political, economic and ideological centers of gravity, which is why our plan has big arrows pointing toward both. Two, combat the emerging metastases of the ISIL tumor worldwide wherever it appears. Three, our most important mission: Protect the homeland.
The storied 101st Airborne Division will soon deploy 1,800 troops to Iraq to aid in the fight against ISIL. They will head there with the support of the American people and armed with a clear campaign plan to help our allies deliver the barbaric organization a lasting defeat, which I personally shared with them last week at Fort Campbell. I also traveled to U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida, where I discussed the plan’s implementation with our top commanders. And this week I visited Paris, a city of determination and resolve, to discuss the plan with our allies.
In Paris, French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian and I co-hosted our counterparts from Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Britain. Those countries have been the biggest contributors to the counter-ISIL campaign. The military actions that the United States and our partners have taken in recent months have applied unprecedented pressure on ISIL in Iraq and Syria. In recent weeks, ISIL has lost territory, lost key leaders and even lost some of its cash and oil. We are gathering momentum on a number of fronts and are determined to put ISIL on an irreversible path to lasting defeat. Now is the time to do even more.
ISIL is a cancer that threatens to spread. And like all cancers, you can’t cure the disease just by cutting out the tumor. You have to eliminate it wherever it has spread, and stop it from coming back. The coalition military campaign plan the United States has developed, and which our key allies support, focuses on three military objectives: One, destroy the ISIL parent tumor in Iraq and Syria by collapsing its two power centers in Mosul, Iraq and Raqqah, Syria. These cities constitute ISIL’s military, political, economic and ideological centers of gravity, which is why our plan has big arrows pointing toward both. Two, combat the emerging metastases of the ISIL tumor worldwide wherever it appears. Three, our most important mission: Protect the homeland.
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January 14, 2016
By Sgt. William White
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter visited 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Soldiers at Fort Campbell. Jan. 13, 2016.
Carter wanted to speak to 101st Airborne Division Soldiers directly prior to their upcoming deployment in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, in which they will work to train, advise and assist the Iraqi army to defeat the ISIL.
"Frankly, I know the 101st has taken Mosul before, and you could do it again," Carter said while speaking to more than 200 Screaming Eagle Soldiers set to deploy in the coming weeks. "We could deploy multiple brigades on the ground and arrive in force, but then it would likely become our fight and our fight alone."
He also reaffirmed that we cannot leave Syria and Iraq to their fates.
"That kind of indirect approach simply cannot succeed in today's connected and volatile world. That would just give ISIL a safe haven for which to spread its destructive influence and it would surrender the strong and global leadership that the United States stands for. So we can't ignore this fight and we also can't win it from the outside in. That's why our strategic approach is to help local, motivated and capable forces in every way that we can without taking their place. That's why your mission is central to our strategy."
Carter explained to the 101st Soldiers that the U.S. presence has adapted and no longer calls for a significant ground combat role, but requires us to work closely with Iraqi forces as they fight ISIL.
"Training advising and assisting, rather than trying to substitute entirely, is the right approach," Carter said. "We are going to enable local, motivated forces and an international coalition with a clear campaign plan, with American leadership and with all of our awesome capabilities from airstrikes, special forces, cyber tools, intelligence, equipment, mobility and logistics, training, advise and assistance from those on the ground, including you."
...
Photo Credit: Sgt. William White
U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter speaks to 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Soldiers during a visit to Fort Campbell, Ky., Jan. 13, 2016. Carter visited Fort Campbell Soldiers to talk about the division's upcoming mission and to thank deploying Soldiers for their sacrifices. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. William White)
http://www.army.mil/article/160958/Secretary_of_defense_provides_insights_into_ISIL_fight__101st_mission/
By Sgt. William White
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter visited 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Soldiers at Fort Campbell. Jan. 13, 2016.
Carter wanted to speak to 101st Airborne Division Soldiers directly prior to their upcoming deployment in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, in which they will work to train, advise and assist the Iraqi army to defeat the ISIL.
"Frankly, I know the 101st has taken Mosul before, and you could do it again," Carter said while speaking to more than 200 Screaming Eagle Soldiers set to deploy in the coming weeks. "We could deploy multiple brigades on the ground and arrive in force, but then it would likely become our fight and our fight alone."
He also reaffirmed that we cannot leave Syria and Iraq to their fates.
"That kind of indirect approach simply cannot succeed in today's connected and volatile world. That would just give ISIL a safe haven for which to spread its destructive influence and it would surrender the strong and global leadership that the United States stands for. So we can't ignore this fight and we also can't win it from the outside in. That's why our strategic approach is to help local, motivated and capable forces in every way that we can without taking their place. That's why your mission is central to our strategy."
Carter explained to the 101st Soldiers that the U.S. presence has adapted and no longer calls for a significant ground combat role, but requires us to work closely with Iraqi forces as they fight ISIL.
"Training advising and assisting, rather than trying to substitute entirely, is the right approach," Carter said. "We are going to enable local, motivated forces and an international coalition with a clear campaign plan, with American leadership and with all of our awesome capabilities from airstrikes, special forces, cyber tools, intelligence, equipment, mobility and logistics, training, advise and assistance from those on the ground, including you."
...
Photo Credit: Sgt. William White
U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter speaks to 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Soldiers during a visit to Fort Campbell, Ky., Jan. 13, 2016. Carter visited Fort Campbell Soldiers to talk about the division's upcoming mission and to thank deploying Soldiers for their sacrifices. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. William White)
http://www.army.mil/article/160958/Secretary_of_defense_provides_insights_into_ISIL_fight__101st_mission/
ISIS is bad but we can't win. Another war of attrition brewing I fear.