US Begins Bombing Islamic Rebels in Northern Iraq

Aug 08, 2014
Military.com | by Richard Sisk
U.S. warplanes and drones carried out a series of airstrikes
Friday against fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant threatening the Kurdish capital of Irbil in northern
Iraq.

In quick succession, the U.S. airstrikes targeted an ISIL
mobile artillery piece, a mortar position and a convoy of
vehicles, said Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press
secretary.
The bombing began when two Navy FA-18 Super Hornets
flying off the carrier George H.W. Bush in the Persian Gulf
struck the first blows in the latest U.S. effort to create a
stable and secure Iraq.
In an early morning strike, the F-18s dropped 500-pound,
laser-guided bombs on mobile artillery pieces used by ISIL
fighters who have surged to within 30 miles of Irbil.
In the next strike, remotely piloted aircraft, possibly
Predators, hit a "terrorist mortar position. When ISIL
fighters returned to the site moments later, the terrorists
were attacked again and successfully eliminated," Kirby
said in a statement.
The third strike consisted of four F-18s which attacked a
parked ISIL convoy of seven vehicles and a nearby mortar
position. "The aircraft executed two planned passes. On
both runs, each aircraft dropped one laser guided bomb
making a total of eight bombs dropped on target
neutralizing the mortar and convoy," Kirby said.
In a White House announcement Thursday night, President
Obama authorized airstrikes to protect U.S. personnel in
Irbil and ease the plight of refugees threatened by ISIL, but
the Pentagon officials stressed that the orders to the F-18s
and the choice of target came from Army Gen. Lloyd Austin,
head of the Central Command.
"The decision to strike was made by the U.S. Central
Command commander under authorization granted him by
the commander-in-chief," said Rear Adm. John Kirby, the
Pentagon press secretary who was traveling with Defense
Secretary Chuck Hagel in India.
F/A-18 Super Hornets also flew as escorts Thursday night
with two C-130 and one C-17 cargo aircraft to make
airdrops of relief supplies to thousands of members of the
Yazidi sect trapped by the fighting on a mountain outside
the northern town of Sinjar.
The cargo planes flew low in a 15-minute runs over the
drop zone to deliver 72 bundles of food and water, including
8,000 Meals Ready to Eat (MREs), the Pentagon said.

The relief flights came from several U.S. bases in the
region which the Pentagon declined to name. The U.S. has
an airbase or airbase access in several countries in the
region, including Turkey, Kuwait, Qatar and Jordan.

In authorizing the airstrikes, Obama became the fourth U.S.
president in a row to initiate military action in Iraq over the
course of the last 24 years following George H.W. Bush, Bill
Clinton and George W. Bush.
ISIL spokesmen mocked the planned U.S. air campaign as
being essentially useless against their street fighters.

"The planes attack positions they think are strategic, but
this is not how we operate," an ISIL fighter told Reuters by
telephone. "We are trained for guerrilla street war," the
fighter said. "God is with us and our promise is heaven.
When we are promised heaven, do you think death will stop
us?"
A senior Obama administration official said that ISIL had
begun "threatening the periphery of Irbil," prompting
Obama's authorization of airstrikes. The U.S. maintains a
consulate in Irbil and about 40 U.S. Special Forces troops
are stationed there at a Joint Operations Center to aid the
Kurds with intelligence and advice.
A second goal of the airstrikes was to break the siege of
thousands of Yazidis on the mountain outside Sinjar by ISI,
the official said.

Obama said that "These innocent families are faced with a
horrible choice – descend the mountain and be slaughtered
or stay and slowly die of thirst and hunger."

Beginning last Saturday, ISIL fighters launched a series of
offensives that rolled up Kurdish towns and positions and
by Wednesday night had come within 30 miles of Irbil, the
senior official said.
"It is their mission to ethnically cleanse anyone they
disagree with," the official said. "Literally, they were putting
people's heads on pikes."
In addition to their brutality, ISIL fighters had shown that
they were a "military proficient organization" capable of
aggressive fire and maneuver with the support of indirect
fire, the official said. They've made advances on both
Kurdish and Iraqi military forces.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Friday said the
U.S. military is authorized to support the Kurdish fighters –
called the Peshmerga – if they believe the efforts will help
dislodge militants from their siege of the mountain.
By many accounts, the Kurdish fighters have been the most
aggressive and disciplined of any Iraqi force, but they have
been forced to give ground to ISIL forces that have proven
to be tougher and more organized than originally believed.
"In some locations, the Kurds have withdrawn against the
better equipped and more agile [ISIL] forces," Earnest said.
"[They] are a capable fighting force and continue to fight
ISIL ... it may be necessary to provide support to enhance
their position or take out key targets to help in their
success."
The U.S. is pressing for more coordination between the
Kurds and Iraq Security Forces and more progress in Iraqi
establishing a government that reflects the diversity of the
country, Earnest said. The ISF is limited as a fighting force
in part because it "never integrated in a way that reflects
Iraq's population, and that was a consequence of failed
political leadership," he said.
Even as the Obama administration asserts the U.S. strikes
will be limited, the American military has assembled a
formidable force in the region, including about 31,000
service members, should the president decide to take more
aggressive action.
Since ISIL fighters invaded from Syria in early June and
took over a large swath of northern and western Iraq, the
Navy has moved the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush
and her two escort warships – the cruiser USS Philippine
Sea (CG 58) and the destroyer USS Truxtun (CGN 35) – into
the Persian Gulf.
The Bush strike group has been joined by the amphibious
assault ship Bataan with 1,000 Marines aboard, the
transport dock ship Mesa Verde with 550 Marines aboard,
and the destroyer O'Kane.
The Army has the 3,300 troops of the 2nd Combat Brigade
of the 4th Infantry Division in Kuwait, and another 1,000
troops in Jordan. The troops in Jordan are protected by a
detachment of F-16 fighters and Patriot anti-missile
batteries.
However, Obama stressed Thursday night, and his Press
Secretary Josh Earnest repeated several times Friday, that
the U.S. has no intention of sending ground troops back
into Iraq.
"What is not being contemplated is the introduction of
American troops in a combat role," Earnest said.
-- Associate Editor Bryant Jordan contributed to this report.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at
richard.sisk@monster.com

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