The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant Megathread

[The Brain]

The mongers option is drop some JDAMs.

If they were still avaiable I'd also want to see some A10s parked in Kuwait and from there sent on  some long road trips.

Not epic?

[KRonn]

If the Iranians do go in with troops then they'll likely remain and maybe own the territory they take from ISIS, at least for a while or for good, becoming even closer with Iraq. It strengthens Iran in the region. So while Iranian troops may be a good idea for the short term, the price to pay afterwards may not be so palatable.

[Berkut]

Captain K-Obvious strikes again.

[CountDeMoney]

If the Iranians do go in with troops then they'll likely remain and maybe own the territory they take from ISIS, at least for a while or for good, becoming even closer with Iraq. It strengthens Iran in the region. So while Iranian troops may be a good idea for the short term, the price to pay afterwards may not be so palatable.

You sorta missed that boat when it sailed in 2003.

[KRonn]

Well, people were talking about Iranians calling in US air strikes, like it was maybe cool that the US and Iran work together. Iran and the US had a chance to work together a bit early in the Afghan war too. Just pointing out the obvious downsides.

[CountDeMoney]

It was implausible in the original Gulf Strike, and it's implausible now.

[Hansmeister]

An editorial from the Wall Street Journal.  That closes the case.

Maybe you prefer The New Yorker

The leaders of all the major Iraqi parties had privately told American commanders that they wanted several thousand military personnel to remain, to train Iraqi forces and to help track down insurgents. The commanders told me that Maliki, too, said that he wanted to keep troops in Iraq. But he argued that the long-standing agreement that gave American soldiers immunity from Iraqi courts was increasingly unpopular; parliament would forbid the troops to stay unless they were subject to local law.

President Obama, too, was ambivalent about retaining even a small force in Iraq. For several months, American officials told me, they were unable to answer basic questions in meetings with Iraqis—like how many troops they wanted to leave behind—because the Administration had not decided. "We got no guidance from the White House," Jeffrey told me. "We didn't know where the President was. Maliki kept saying, 'I don't know what I have to sell.' " At one meeting, Maliki said that he was willing to sign an executive agreement granting the soldiers permission to stay, if he didn't have to persuade the parliament to accept immunity. The Obama Administration quickly rejected the idea. "The American attitude was: Let's get out of here as quickly as possible," Sami al-Askari, the Iraqi member of parliament, said.

The last American combat troops departed Iraq on December 18, 2011. Some U.S. officials believe that Maliki never intended to allow soldiers to remain; in a recent e-mail, he denied ever supporting such a plan, saying, "I am the owner of the idea of withdrawing the U.S. troops." Many Iraqi and American officials are convinced that even a modest force would have been able to prevent chaos—not by fighting but by providing training, signals intelligence, and a symbolic presence. "If you had a few hundred here, not even a few thousand, they would be coöperating with you, and they would become your partners," Askari told me. "But, when they left, all of them left. There's no one to talk to about anything."

[PRC]

NPR had the former US commander in northern Iraq pointing out the difficulty of conducting strikes without deploying air controllers, i.e. boots on the ground.  At least two of them.

Huh.  We didn't have any problem doing that in Kosovo...well ok sorry Chinese Embassy.

Can't they send in a few Special Forces if they need some spotters?

Air Combat Controllers are Special Forces.

[The Brain]

Special or special?

[Viking]

Anybody remember this?



I think we will soon see a flood of smug "I told you so"'s

[The Brain]

I'm an Orc street samurai.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Huh.  We didn't have any problem doing that in Kosovo...well ok sorry Chinese Embassy.

I believe we were hitting fixed installations in Serbia, not a couple thousand screaming jihadists who look like civilians.

Can't they send in a few Special Forces if they need some spotters?

They wear boots too.

carpet bombing (or bombing the carpets) could help here. Lets the anti-crowd whine.

[Legbiter]

And now the Iranians want to team up with the Great Satan to roll back ISIS. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/10899745/Iran-will-consider-joint-action-with-US-in-Iraq-Hassan-Rouhani-says.html

[Razgovory]

An editorial from the Wall Street Journal.  That closes the case.

Maybe you prefer The New Yorker

The leaders of all the major Iraqi parties had privately told American commanders that they wanted several thousand military personnel to remain, to train Iraqi forces and to help track down insurgents. The commanders told me that Maliki, too, said that he wanted to keep troops in Iraq. But he argued that the long-standing agreement that gave American soldiers immunity from Iraqi courts was increasingly unpopular; parliament would forbid the troops to stay unless they were subject to local law.

President Obama, too, was ambivalent about retaining even a small force in Iraq. For several months, American officials told me, they were unable to answer basic questions in meetings with Iraqis—like how many troops they wanted to leave behind—because the Administration had not decided. "We got no guidance from the White House," Jeffrey told me. "We didn't know where the President was. Maliki kept saying, 'I don't know what I have to sell.' " At one meeting, Maliki said that he was willing to sign an executive agreement granting the soldiers permission to stay, if he didn't have to persuade the parliament to accept immunity. The Obama Administration quickly rejected the idea. "The American attitude was: Let's get out of here as quickly as possible," Sami al-Askari, the Iraqi member of parliament, said.

The last American combat troops departed Iraq on December 18, 2011. Some U.S. officials believe that Maliki never intended to allow soldiers to remain; in a recent e-mail, he denied ever supporting such a plan, saying, "I am the owner of the idea of withdrawing the U.S. troops." Many Iraqi and American officials are convinced that even a modest force would have been able to prevent chaos—not by fighting but by providing training, signals intelligence, and a symbolic presence. "If you had a few hundred here, not even a few thousand, they would be coöperating with you, and they would become your partners," Askari told me. "But, when they left, all of them left. There's no one to talk to about anything."

So you post an article where the leader denies every actually agreeing to having more American troops there and has pride in the fact he is the "owner of the idea of withdrawing troops"?

[Queequeg]

And now the Iranians want to team up with the Great Satan to roll back ISIS. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/10899745/Iran-will-consider-joint-action-with-US-in-Iraq-Hassan-Rouhani-says.html

This is one of the least likely things to have happened in human history.