Would US air strikes work against Iraq insurgents?
| WASHINGTON
President Obama has a meeting with top lawmakers Wednesday as he weighs whether to launch air strikes against Islamic militants who are bearing down on Baghdad.听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听
Calls for air strikes have been growing increasingly robust, particularly from Capitol Hill, but some former defense officials have countered that the chances of civilian casualties and other miscalculations are too great if the US military launches such strikes without boots on the ground to provide intelligence and keep civilians safe.
So, can the US military launch effective air strikes without troops on the ground? 鈥淥f course you can,鈥� says retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula, the Air Force鈥檚 first deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance and a former F-15 fighter jet pilot. Air strikes without US boots on the ground have been used effectively in a number of recent US conflicts, he says.
Yet 鈥渙ne needs to be very careful about the downsides,鈥� warned Eric Edelman, former Pentagon undersecretary for policy in the George W. Bush administration, in an interview with Bloomberg News, adding that effective air strikes 鈥渞equire some kind of US presence on the ground.鈥�
Whether boots on the ground are critical, analysts say, hinges on what the air strikes will be used to do.聽
Secretary of State John Kerry has come out in favor of such air strikes. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not the whole answer, but they may well be one of the options that are important to be able to stem the tide and stop the movement of people who are moving around in open convoys, in trucks, and terrorizing people,鈥� he told Yahoo News Tuesday.
The 鈥渕oving around in open鈥� space point is key here, Mr. Deptula notes. Air strikes without boots on the ground could prove effective against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) fighters, who tend to mass in formation more than, say, Taliban fighters or the Iraqi militias that US troops once fought in the streets of Baghdad.
If the US military was interested in routing ISIS troops from the cities they have already occupied, however, including Fallujah and Mosul, air strikes without US boots on the ground would risk civilian casualties.聽
The key question is to what end the US government would use these strikes. They are not likely, for example, to inspire Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki 鈥� whose sectarian agenda has contributed to the breakdown of the country鈥檚 social fabric 鈥� 鈥渢o create a Jeffersonian democracy,鈥� Deptula says.
鈥淲e do have the fiercest, strongest military in the world,鈥� Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D) of Hawaii, and a combat veteran, told CNN. 鈥淲e also have a responsibility to be very careful about how and where we use that military force. It is not in our US interest to go and involve ourselves in the middle of what is a religious civil war.鈥澛�
Lindsey Graham (R) of South Carolina, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has called on Mr. Obama to use air strikes to stop the ISIS advance towards Baghdad, warning that if they are permitted to continue their expansion, Syria and Iraq could become 鈥渢he staging area for the next 9/11.鈥澛�
ISIS fighters currently number fewer than 10,000, according to Pentagon estimates. As they move toward Baghdad, Iraqi security forces have been 鈥渟tiffening their resistance鈥� to ISIS and 鈥渉ave the will to defend the capital,鈥� Rear Adm. John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, told reporters in a briefing Tuesday.
The aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush has 65 aircraft on board, including F-18 fighter jets and electronic jamming aircraft. In its carrier strike group, it is accompanied by the USS Philippine Sea and the destroyer USS Truxton, both of which are equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles.聽
Still, some lawmakers are pushing back against any US military aid to Iraq. 鈥淭hey wouldn鈥檛 sign an agreement. They don鈥檛 want us there,鈥� said Rep. Buck McKeon (R) of Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee last week. 鈥淲e鈥檙e cutting our military. It鈥檚 not good to start new adventures around the world.鈥澛�
Not even US military air strikes to stop an ISIS advance? 鈥淭hey all cost money, right?鈥� Representative McKeon said, noting that cuts in the Defense budget have also cut training time for US forces. 鈥淭hey all put people at risk. And we鈥檙e not getting the flying hours now, to be up to snuff. Why do we want to risk our people?鈥�
