11.18.15
by

The pressure on ISIS builds

The war against ISIS is ramping up, following the Paris attacks.

Politico published a great article about how the French, while militarily small, definitely know how to fight. The article discusses recent wars the French have launched and how the French are not at all opposed to very risky operations.

This includes airborne operations, going in with ad hoc units even if outnumbered, and operating with insufficient water and medical supplies. Great article if you a moment: The French Way of War. Bet on it: Hollande’s counterattack against the terrorists is going to hurt them.

I also came across a great article describing how AC-130 Gunships and A-10s destroyed 116 ISIS fuel trucks over the weekend. ISIS reportedly has about 1,000 fuel trucks, so this was a serious blow for a single weekend.

From the article:

“This part of Tidal Wave II is designed to attack the distribution component of ISIL’s oil smuggling operation and degrade their capacity to fund their military operations.”- Colonel Steven H. Warren

Targeting fuel trucks used to be off limits because of the civilians operating them, but shortly after the Paris terrorist attacks the rules of engagement changed.

Interestingly, we dropped leaflets one hour prior to the strike warning the drivers to get away from the vehicles, and believe it or not, I’m more than okay with this. I think there’s a good chance many were pressured or forced into driving for ISIS. (Read the comments at the bottom of the article for some of the great pros and cons of this.

Finally, Russia pounded ISIS for perhaps the first time with a massive bombing raid. This short article shows the enormity of what Russia pulled off, and it’s nice to see them pounding ISIS instead of rebels fighting Assad.

Equally nice, they coordinated with the U.S. prior to the strikes. I’m glad to see Putin coming back into the fold some, though it could be mere connivign on his part. Only time with tell.

Regardless of the true or not-so-true implications of possible improving Russia/U.S/world relations, it seems abundantly clear that it’s been a rough few days for ISIS.

And I don’t see this changing any time soon.

Keep the faith,

Stan R. Mitchell

About me: Stan R. Mitchell writes some of the most action-packed, fast-moving gunfighter novels around. Tired of slow-paced, investigative novels that take 50 pages to excite you? Look no further! Stan is the best-selling author of 5 novels in 3 different time periods. He’s also a prior infantry Marine with Combat Action Ribbon, and a former journalist who spent ten years in the newspaper business, learning how to hook the reader, cut out the filler, and just tell the story. In short, Stan is knowledgeable, he’s fast, and his books will blow you away. Don’t forget to subscribe for email alerts to this blog.

16 thoughts on “The pressure on ISIS builds”

  1. Stan,
    I’m not going to let myself get into a full-on rant about how totally mucked up our response has been to ISIS/L – but I don’t think we could have done any worse.
    From day one, we could have been taking out every fuel carrier they had, without exposing any American to danger. Between our drones and other stand-off platforms, their money-makers could have been stopped in their tracks.
    When every potential drivers knows they’re going to die 10 feet from the loading dock, the bad guys are going to suffer staffing problems.
    All we need to do is take away their money, and their ability to conduct operations gets nullified.
    Of course, that would take political will and acumen – both of which are in short supply in the swamp that is Washington DC.
    OG

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Very well said. And that’s how things would have been handled if a combat vet, such as yourself, were in the White House. But, of course, the chances of a combat vet making that high are about a hundred times lower than between slim and none. : )

      Oh, well. We can grouse about in on sites like this.

      Speaking of which, my main gripe for either party is never admitting their wrong. Part of the problem with ISIS is that Obama called them the JV team. Well, maybe they were then, or maybe they weren’t, but it doesn’t seem that hard to me for him to just say, “I — or we — miscalculated. I apologize for that statement, but I’m now going to adjust course and correct the situation.”

      And I’m not just putting this on Obama. Why couldn’t Rumsfeld have admitted what a huge mistake it was not to pursue the MRAP program sooner?

      Just why can’t these people be normal when they get to Washington? Do they not realize we’d actually like and respect them more if were?

      (Think of Lincoln and how humble he was. And he’s one of the most liked and respected presidents of them all, and he was barely formally educated and always quick to admit error.)

      Liked by 1 person

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      • Stan,
        There is always plenty of fingers to point at the ‘professional political class’. They appear to consider themselves the royalty of America – just look at the ways they exempt themselves from laws that apply to the rest of us. With rare exception, I don’t see a whit of difference whether there is a (D) or an (R) by their name.
        That, however, is another rant for another day.
        Regarding Lincoln. Back when schools were interested in teaching actual American history, we learned that the newspapers of the day vilified the man – and the editorial cartoons went so far as to depict him as various kinds of an ape.
        He was a backwoods yahoo from way out west, and was much too unsophisticated to ever be a real president. (Which kind of reminds me of today’s newspapers and certain candidates.)
        In addition to attacking his appearance (and his wife), they ridiculed the Gettysburg Address – many refusing to even print it as inconsequential and beneath notice.
        I guess in some ways the big city newspapers haven’t changed a bit.
        Hmmm…I wonder if that 4th cup of coffee was a good idea?
        Semper Fi, Bro.
        OG

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        • Thanks for the reminder of how bad they treated him. I knew most of that, and I knew the Gettysburg Address was coolly received, but I had no idea some refused to print it!!! Wow!!

          Lincoln is probably my favorite president and I’ve read about four or five thick volumes about him. Have you ever read “Team of Rivals?” It shows what his “peers” thought of him, many of whom, of course, ended up in his Cabinet.

          They all thought he was an idiot for years until the end, and then realized he was the greatest among them. Great book if you enjoy super deep history.

          Liked by 1 person

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        • Omg intelligent people still do exist and I have stumbled onto intellectual gold. Thank you both for your well supported and articulated opinions.

          Counter intelligence is still alive and well, hiding the best minds deep within society; so they may not be corrupted by their governments.

          Refreshing and inspiring. The fight continues for self education, inspiration, and innovation. Thanks for leading the charge gents.

          And completely making my day.

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  2. Hmmm…I guess the answer is ‘yes’.

    Like

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    • Hah! Yeah, I hate the commenting system on this theme. But I like everything else about the theme, so for now it’s what we have to play with! lol

      Your solution is probably the best short-term fix. As the columns get too small, just start a new comment/thread. (I still can’t believe it got down to one word wide!!)

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  3. Stan,

    According to this report, http://www.gao.gov/assets/680/671462.pdf

    Green Berets are at around 24,000
    Marine Raiders at 2,000 (both are responsible for UW/FID)

    SEALs at 8,000
    Army Rangers at 4,000 (mainly DA)

    w/ Air Force STS at 16,000 (support the above missions and also their pilots)

    and if you remember the troop levels & resources graph from the other ISIS thread, there’s around half a million Arab/Turkish/Persian/Kurdish personnel.

    If Obama intends to keep this a SOCOM–only war (first in history, right?), then it looks do-able. So long as local nations pitch in the bulk of the resources.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Agreed, and I’m totally okay with sticking with using primarily operators and air power.

      It worked brilliantly in Afghanistan, until we abandoned the idea and sent in a bunch of line troops and decided to rebuild the country.

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  5. As for this retarded debate, “Radical Islam” (Republicans) vs. jihadists (Clinton)/terrorists (Obama). Why not just call them what other Muslims call them takfiris— those who go around labeling others kafirs, unbelievers.

    Sign reads, “NO Shi’a and NO Sunni, all of Us against Takfirism” (in red),

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    • Hey, what can you say. We’re pretty slow learners here in America.

      I consistently and regularly stun friends and family members when I tell them that we actually created the Viet Minh,, which became the Viet Cong.

      I try to tell them about not helping the French much at Dien Bien Phu, but they usually don’t even know the French were involed. And they certainly don’t know about Dien Bien Phu.

      I think the lesson is that American’s aren’t much on history or learning/edumacation. And when you’re not up on those things, it’s going to cost you a bit. : )

      Liked by 1 person

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Comments are always welcome!