Citaat:
Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Nr.10
Een stramien dat herhaaldelijk werd toegepast. De IS troepen herlocaliseren om ze op andere plaatsen cadeau te doen aan het Syrische regeringsleger en de Russische luchtmacht. Alzo wordt de eigen taak makkelijker gemaakt en de taak van de twee laatstgenoemden fel bemoeilijkt.
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Andere eenheden zouden dan weer in flarden geschoten worden. IS zou nog 3% van het Syrisch grondgebied bezetten, aldus de VS.
Trump, Mattis turn military loose on ISIS, leaving terror caliphate in tatters
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/12...n-tatters.html
“The leadership team that is in place right now has certainly enabled us to succeed,” Brig. Gen. Andrew Croft, the ranking U.S. Air Force officer in Iraq, told Fox News. “I couldn’t ask for a better leadership team to work for, to enable the military to do what it does best.”
President Trump gave a free hand to Mattis, who in May stressed military commanders were no longer being slowed by Washington “decision cycles,” or by the White House micromanaging that existed President Obama. As a result of the new approach, the fall of ISIS in Iraq came even more swiftly than hardened U.S. military leaders expected.
“It moved more quickly than at least I had anticipated,” Croft said. “We and the Iraqi Security Forces were able to hunt down and target ISIS leadership, target their command and control.”
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Despite the victories on the battlefield, U.S. officials cautioned much work remains to be done.
“ISIS is very adaptive,” noted Col. Ryan Dillon, the U.S.-led coalition spokesman. “We are already seeing smaller cells and pockets that take more of an insurgent guerrilla type approach as opposed to an Islamic army or conventional type force. So we have got to be prepared for that.”
He said as a result the coalition is “adjusting some training efforts” so the Iraqi forces -- upwards of 150,000 have already undergone training -- are equipped to address such threats and ensure long-term stability.
Folsom said “the worst thing we could do” is not finish the job.
Idd. Het slechtste wat men kan doen is het werk niet afmaken...