Friday 26 September 2014

The slow, long fight against ISIS: airstrikes, ground foibles



The phrase has been repeated so often that it could become a mantra in Washington: It's going to be a long fight against ISIS. 

On Thursday the Pentagon intoned it again.


"I think we are in this for a matter of years," spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said. "We are steeling ourselves for that period of time".

The United States and its coalition partners have been quick with airstrikes, dropping tons of ordnance on ISIS targets. On Friday, the British parliament will vote on whether to join them.

 They're having some effect, experts say, but on the ground, headway against the Islamist extremists is far from view. 

In Syria, marshaling an effective ground partner against the terrorists, who have a victorious track record there, has only begun. In Iraq, the military has been plagued by debacles.

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