.
What interesting info, Bill. Thanks.

BRC
http://www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com

One aspect that does not really get spoken about are the white hat foreign fighters. This group generally consists of 2 types. Quality former soldiers who want to help defeat ISIS by helping our friends the Kurds who can’t find jobs or fit back in to society. The second group can’t find jobs or fit back into society and just want to run around wearing cool guy gear.

The first group is really effective, loved by the Kurds but gets chased off by the US CIA paramilitaries and JSOC forces.

The second group is not chased off because they generally are not effective and dont really get in the way the former groups. They generally hang out in vehicles or stand behind a berm looking cool.

We need more of the first group who are given a specific mission and objectives. Generally pre mission planning and in the fight coordination. The Kurds do well in the training and fighting departments

This is the best answer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MLGTTMXsIU

I would imagine, living in Texas, it’s hard for you to appreciate the significance of 70,000 English fans singing La Marseillaise in Wembley Stadium, London.

Did the shitheads accomplish in a day what 50 years of “ever closer integration” (official EU policy) failed to achieve?

.
Since the beginning of war, the peace has been, arguably, more challenging than the war.

Your comment in regard to the Russians is a fair one though I would contend they never won militarily.

There is an exemplar for a good peace — the postwar occupations of Germany and Japan.

They — and the ROK — developed into economic powerhouses.

Unfortunately, the US does not have either the stomach or pocketbook for such nation building.

If we had occupied Iraq, ISIS would have been killed in the cradle.

War is simple. Find ’em, fix ’em, kill ’em. Peace is a bitch.

BRC
http://www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com

You make it sound so straightforward. But look what happened to the Russians in Afghanistan and to a certain extent the allied forces in Iraq. What comes afterwards? If you simply retreat after you’ve done the job then you leave another void and the cycle repeats itself. If you stay, they’ll pick you off.

The “ISIS fighters” look just like the civilian population of the same age, etc. Indeed, likely all males of military age, and some females, are required to be ISIS fighters.

Given an attack by US ground forces, ISIS fighters will not stand and fight. Instead they will just hide their AK-47s and blend in as sheep herders, camel drivers, cooks, whatever.

What the US did in Fallujah was brilliant soldiering, but some US soldiers got killed or wounded — not worth it. Instead, we could have just leveled Fallujah safely from the air, air conditioned planes, and not very many, from however high, maybe even 40,000 feet.

In Gulf War II, I doubt that Schwarzkopf had the US do much house to house fighting — maybe none. And none was needed except maybe near the end in Kuwait City. Instead, Saddam had a seven million
man army, maybe lost half a million, and came for an unconditional surrender. In Gulf War II, when we did an M1-A1 “thunder run” into Baghdad, no house to house fighting at all.

No house in enemy territory is worth a US casualty. Instead, for a house with hostiles, just level the house. Can do it with a guy in a trailer in Arizona with a mouse click.

One result: The locals will fight against the Jihadars just to save their houses.

Net, the Jihaders are beating us simply by our unwillingness to inflict civilian casualties. They are willing both to take and inflict civilian casualties, We have to take civilian casualties but won’t inflict any. ‘Nuff of that stuff.

And where and when did that *politically correct warfare* of “no civilian casualties” come from? Some clever Soviet propagandist? In WWII we were perfectly willing to inflict civilian casualties with B-17s over Germany and B-29s over Japan. In both cases, we had enemy civilians burning like torches.

First cut, ISIS won’t calm down before they have no more population able to do a suicide bombing. For more, each day ISIS exists is another day they might use some of their oil money to buy a black market nuke and have some of their people, soldiers or civilians, call them whatever, light off the nuke in a US harbor.

Today France dropped a total of 20 bombs
on some selected ISIS “targets”. Maybe more ISIS Jihaders died from
laughing at the French pinprick. The French might as well have dropped croissants.

The rules are simple: In ISIS territory, there’s something 30,000 feet down there — level it. Otherwise, with the attitude of ISIS, they just see no good reason to stop trying to kill us. It’s not our fault — they can have peace anytime they want.

ISIS will become peaceful, the easy way or the hard way. And we will do it all from the air, no boots on the ground. Of course, now the French should do it.

.
Your comment is quite good. BRC thinks you must be an adult. A rare thing these days.

We ended WWII brutally with an atomic bombing of Japan and since they have not started any wars

We occupied Germany and during our period of occupation, they didn’t start any wars. Previously, they could be counted on for a war every 25 years.

Both countries became strong economically and prospered.

We can do more than one thing at a time.

Let’s eliminate ISIS while figuring out an adult foreign policy in the Middle East.

But, first, let’s eliminate ISIS.

BRC
http://www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com

I’m one liberal who agrees. Perhaps not on some specific tactical details but on the overarching viewpoint. It’s like we’re the German people sitting around waiting while Adolf Hitler slowly builds his military regime right under our feet.

I read all of the comments before posting this. Some of the posts are compassionate about civilians and finding a solution that spares their lives but what people with said viewpoints are failing to comprehend is that the Islamic Regime is building a foundation — a framework — that is spreading on both land and in minds and souls to rid the earth of infidels. Infidels being anyone who does not adhere to their archaic laws. Why do you think so many people — Islamic people — are fleeing their home countries? Because they will be subjugated by the regime. And, let’s face it, innocent blood has already been shed. Over and over and over again it has already been shed.

This is both a human rights issue AND an act of war. Sometimes we have to compromise between conflicting principles within our own selves. Americans, in general, are failing to comprehend this. Are Americans just going to sit back and wait until something like Pearl Harbor happens again? (Truthfully, it has already happened.)

.
The term “asymmetrical warfare” refers to warfare between sovereign nations and movements — such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, ISIS — which are not the armed forces of other sovereign nations.

They can be proxies undertaking mischief for state sponsors — Iran is a good example.

Urban warfare — fighting in built up areas — is a method of making war and has been around for centuries. One phase of Ranger School deal with urban warfare — the City Phase. It has become progressively more important as busting down doors and killing HVTs (high value targets) was a big part of Iraq and Afghanistan. Not everything but a big part.

An artillery prep is an element of the combined arms approach — infantry, artillery, armor — to making war. It is a more classic approach in which one thinks about taking geographically significant terrain features or breaching the lines of a defense in depth.

In urban warfare today, it is often enough to find, fix, and kill the enemy. To kill the maximum number of enemy soldiers. Trap them and slowly annihilate them.

It is a nasty kind of fighting but it doesn’t require large artillery fire — nothing bigger than mortars. It is very up close and face to face.

The American Marines and Rangers excel at this type of fighting.

Sometimes you engage the enemy for such a protracted period of time that they run out of ammunition and the final stage may be hand to hand combat.

There is nothing to suggest that Al Qaeda or ISIS is trained, excels at, or likes this kind of fighting.

In Syria and Iraq wherein ISIS has gone to ground and occupied territory, it is absolutely applicable to go in there and take them out with a spoon. Civilian populations will have to similarly go to ground and flee or take root in basements or other safe locations.

ISIS will be annihilated if we can get then to decisively engage in such fighting, Of course, we will have to commit the right amount of manpower and resources.

We can make up manpower losses. ISIS cannot.
We can make up ammunition expenditures. ISIS cannot.
We can use stand off weapons. ISIS cannot.

We just have to get into the fight. There are no likely more than 25K ISIS fighters in the entire Middle East.

BRC
http://www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com