Troops Headed for Ground Operations in Syria

Troops headed for ground operations in Syria

US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter is laying out plans to the Senate Armed Services Committee for possible use of Special Operations troops on the ground in a larger capacity in Iraq as well as in a new mission in Syria. From ABC News:U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter has laid out changes to the Obama administration’s anti-ISIS strategy that will lead to more airstrikes and special operations raids against ISIS, saying they will help “gather battlefield momentum.” They also open the door for U.S special operations forces to conduct raids inside Iraq on their own.The changes are intended to build on the Obama administration’s strategy to fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria where the tactical fight against the terror group has stalemated.“The changes we’re pursuing can be described by what I call the 'three R’s': Raqqa, Ramadi, and Raids,” Carter said in testimony today before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The idea of more raids builds on Carter’s previous comments at a Pentagon news conference Friday that there would be more raids similar to the one where U.S. special operations forces assisted Kurdish troops in the rescue of 70 hostages held by ISIS.Carter did not recommend the creation of a buffer zone, no-fly zone or humanitarian zone that has been advocated by several members of Congress.He said the first “R” stands for the line of effort to challenge ISIS control of Raqqa, the city that is the group’s de facto capital in Syria. That would include the continued support with equipment and training to Syrian Kurds and the Syrian Arab Coalition that have already been the recipients of equipment and training from the Pentagon’s remodeled Syrian rebel train and equip program.Carter also said there would be an intensification of the air campaign against ISIS with more aircraft “with a higher and heavier rate of strikes.”“This will include more strikes against ISIL high-value targets as our intelligence improves, and also its oil enterprise, which is a critical pillar of ISIL’s financial infrastructure,“ he said, using the government’s acronym for ISIS. ”If done in concert as we intend, all these actions on the ground and from the air should help shrink ISIL’s territory into a smaller and smaller area and create new opportunities for targeting ISIL – ultimately denying this evil movement any safe haven in its supposed heartland.”See the full article from ABC News.From the looks of this, we are looking at another situation similar to Afghanistan. The use of Special Operations in raids as well as the possibility of operations in Ramadi (Ramadi No Good), open the door for the need for traditional forces in these AO's.[mwi-cat-listing cat="94" ppp="4" cols="4" desc="false" type="view" btn_color="black" ]