YEAR IN REVIEW 2014 Military involvement escalates as US helps Iraq face Islamic State threat WASHINGTON — During the first half of 2014, a militant group calling itself the Islamic State overran large swathes of Iraq. Much of the Iraqi army, which the U.S. spent many years and billions of dollars training and equipping, collapsed. Alarmed at the deteriorating situation, the Obama administration in June began deploying hundreds of security personnel to Iraq to protect U.S. personnel and facilities. The Pentagon also stepped up its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance flights over the country. From there, American military involvement escalated. The Pentagon began sending teams of military advisers to set up joint operations centers in Baghdad and Irbil, and assess the state of the Iraqi security forces. At the time, President Barack Obama ruled out using U.S. ground forces to quell the growing insurgency. “We will not be sending U.S. troops back into combat in Iraq,” he said. But with the Iraqi security forces and the Kurdish peshmerga on the ropes and the Iraqi government clamoring for help, the administration began contemplating launching airstrikes to degrade the Islamic State and halt their advances. On Aug. 8, the bombing began, with Navy F-18 Super Hornets launched from the USS George H.W. Bush in the Persian Gulf leading the way. American planes attacked a variety of Islamic State targets in Iraq, including Humvees and other U.S. equipment that had been captured by the militants as they seized control of Iraqi army bases. The Air Force also airdropped humanitarian aid to the Yazidis and other besieged minority groups. “When we face a situation like we do … and when we have the unique capabilities to help avert a massacre, then I believe the United States of America cannot turn a blind eye,” Obama said. The Islamic State retaliated by beheading an American journalist, James Foley, who had been abducted in Syria. At that point, the Obama administration was weighing whether to expand the air war to neighboring Syria, where the group controls significant territory. “Can they be defeated without addressing that part of their organization which resides in Syria? The answer is no,” chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Martin Dempsey told Pentagon reporters in August. “That will have to be addressed on both sides of what is ... a nonexistent border.” During the overnight hours of Sept. 22-23, the U.S. unleashed a wave of Tomahawk cruise missile and air attacks in Syria against the Islamic State as well as the al-Qaida-affiliated Khorasan Group. During the attack, the F-22 Raptor — America’s most advanced fighter aircraft — was used in combat for the first time. U.S. airstrikes in Syria and Iraq have maintained a fairly steady pace since then, with several Arab and European partners joining in. On the ground in Iraq, the Obama administration decided to ramp up American military assistance to help Iraqi forces go on the offensive and reclaim territory from the Islamic State. The decision was made after Iraq’s divisive prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, stepped down and his successor, Haider al-Abadi, promised to form a more inclusive government and heal sectarian riffs which had enabled the militant organization to flourish. In November, Obama authorized the deployment of an additional 1,500 U.S. servicemembers to Iraq to support a new $1.6 billion train, advise and equip mission. When they arrive it will bring the number of American troops in country to about 3,000. U.S. Central Command has been tasked with establishing more joint operations centers and several training sites in Iraq to support the effort. American special operations forces are already in the hotly contested Anbar province laying the groundwork for the expanded mission. The U.S. and its Arab allies are also setting up a separate training program with moderate Syrian rebels to help them fight the Islamic State. That effort is expected to begin sometime in 2015 after the vetting process gets under way. U.S. officials have said that the fight against the Islamic State — which was eventually named Operation Inherent Resolve — is expected to continue for years. Rep. Ed Royce, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Relations committee, expressed frustration at a December hearing on lack of the progress in the fight. “After four months of the U.S.-led air campaign in Iraq and Syria, ISIS still controls essentially the same amount of territory as it did in the summer.”
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 18:02:58 +0000
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