Ground troops considered
The Pentagon says it is considering modest numbers of ground troops to fight alongside Iraqi forces. Joint Chiefs chairman Dempsey to the House Armed Services Committee:
I’m not predicting at this point that I would recommend that those forces in Mosul and along the border would need to be accompanied by U.S. forces, but we’re certainly considering it
The statement comes after Baghdadi releases an audio recording saying that the air campaign has failed.
UK troops to return to Iraq
Training teams will be sent to the semi-autonomous Kurdish zone, the first UK troop presence in the country since its withdrawal in 2011. Whitehall spokesman:
If Iraq fails or the government becomes sectarian then that is a massive problem
The number of troops isn’t specified.
Air strikes kill 232 civilians in two weeks
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says airstrikes by the Assad government have killed at least 232 civilians in the last two weeks. Among the weapons deployed, the regime has dropped least 401 barrel bombs on rebel-held areas in eight provinces. The regime says that it only uses the weapons against terrorists. A refugee camp in Idlib was hit. A man who says his house in Anadan has been destroyed by barrel bombs three times:
Barrel bombs kill those we love most, they destroy houses, dreams and memories, and leave us without any hope that the killing will ever stop.
U.S.-armed groups surrender to Al Qaeda
Harakat Hazm and the Syrian Revolutionary Front, who were meant to form the main line of attack against ISIS and have been receiving heavy weapons including GRAD rockets and TOW anti-tank missiles, surrender military bases and weapons supplies to Nusra, the Syrian Al Qaeda affiliate, as it storms villages in Idlib. Nusra members announce on Twitter that they have seized the TOW missiles. Some of the rebels are reported to defect to Nusra.
Airstrikes haven’t slowed recruiting
Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. Kirby says ISIS is still able to recruit in large numbers:
They are facing some attrition through these operations not just from the air but from the ground. But there’s no question that they still possess the ability to reconstitute their manpower and that’s just an indication of the strength of their ideology right now, which is why we’re working hard to counter that, and the fact that this is going to be a long struggle.
He confirms ISIS personnel have been targeted and killed, along with vehicles and installations.
Sends Chechen commander to city
ISIS orders al-Shishani to leave the Shingal area in northern Iraq to take over operations in Kobani. Another shift in strategy will be to remove its heavy weapons and artillery from near Kobane, in order to avoid airstrikes. ISIS also plans to increase the number of car bomb and motorcycle suicide attacks in the city.
Program to combat ISIS
Germany is instituting a government-backed pilot program designed to teach school students about the dangers of radical groups like ISIS. Project leader:
We laughed when we saw those first rudimentary extremist videos in 2005. But a new politico-religious movement has grown up out of nothing and taken all of us completely by surprise.
Seizes US weapons cache
The Pentagon drops 28 loads of military grade weapons for the Kurds. Wind shifts one of the loads, falling into the hands of ISIS militants. Turkey criticizes, but US officials say one cache of weapons in not a significant boon for the Islamic State. Apparently, amateur video footage proves militants did seize the cache of weaponry, consisting of rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and many other items. Army Lieutenant Colonel Warren:
One bundle worth of equipment is not enough equipment to give the enemy any type of advantage at all. It’s a relatively small amount of supplies. This is stuff [Isis] already has.
Kirby:
I do want to add, though, that we are very confident that the vast majority of the bundles did end up in the right hands. In fact, we’re only aware of one bundle that did not.
USAF: ISIS air power is a joke
U.S. Air Force officials say the group’s air power is effective for propaganda but doesn’t pose a threat. Official:
If ISIS is flying, or is thinking about flying, it will not be doing so for very long
ISIS is reported to have acquired three Soviet-built Mikoyan MiG-21 Fishbed and MiG-23 Flogger fighters and a number of Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatross aircraft, traditionally used for advanced training and light attack. Marine Corps fighter pilot:
I’d sell my first born to engage all three… by myself
Five Brits join weekly
Speaking during a national security conference in London, United Kingdom senior police officer Sir Hogan-Howe reveals that a minimum average of five British citizens are traveling to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS. Tracking and reacting to the threats of home terrorists who obtain experience from ISIS training grows worse, what he calls “potentially militarized individuals.” After citing some examples, Sir Hogan-Howe:
Those are the ones that we believe have gone. There may be many more who set out to travel to another country and meandered over to Syria and Iraq in a way that is not always possible to spot when you have failed states and leaky borders. We know that over 500 British nationals travelled to join the conflict. Many have returned and many will wish to do so in the coming months and perhaps in future years. The Met say they have made 218 arrests for terrorist-related activity this year, an increase of about 70% in three years. A large part of this increased arrest rate is due to terrorist activities, plots and planning linked to Syria. The trend is, I think, set to continue.
60 airstrikes in 72 hours
U.S. forces conduct the highest number of air strikes yet of any campaign in support of the Kurdish fighters in Kobani, but U.S. CentCom commander General Lloyd Austin says it’s still ‘highly possible’ the town might fall to ISIS, and says the focus remains on Iraq:
Iraq is our main effort, and it has to be, and the things that we’re doing right now in Syria are being done primarily to shape the conditions in Iraq
Report: U.S. training Middle Eastern fighter pilots
Israel’s Arutz Sheva newspaper picks up reports from Arabic-language Lebanese media that pilots from ‘countries in the Middle East’ are training at the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force range along the Mexican border in Arizona. It says the pilots are flying the British BAC 167 Strikemaster training jet and the twin-engine Boeing A-10 Thunderbolt II, meant for air support and bombing. It doesn’t give more details on the identity of the pilots but suggests the Thunderbolt may be delivered to Syrian rebels at a later stage.
Report: U.S. soldiers found chemical weapons
The New York Times reports that American and American-trained Iraqi troops repeatedly encountered chemical weapons from Saddam Hussein’s rule, and were wounded by them on at least six occasions, between 2004 and 2011. Troops secretly reported finding close to 5,000 chemical warheads, shells or aviation bombs, it says. The report is based on interviews with soldiers and officials, as well as redacted intelligence documents (available here.) It says the finds were kept secret from the public and not circulated widely within the military, and some soldiers who were wounded had their injuries covered up, even to the extent of being denied treatment. Most of the areas where weapons were encountered are reportedly now under ISIS control. A large fraction of the weapons were not in serviceable condition, and did not disperse the chemical agents over more than a limited area when they were ruptured. But some of the weapons can still be serviceable in IEDs. Former Army sergeant on hand for the destruction of mustard shells:
I love it when I hear, ‘Oh there weren’t any chemical weapons in Iraq.’ There were plenty.
UK joining airstrikes
British lawmakers meeting in emergency session approve a motion Friday to participate in airstrikes against ISIS targets in Iraq. The 524-43 vote comes after Prime Minister David Cameron tells Parliament that the country has a “duty to take part” in international efforts to combat the extremist group. Cameron says:
This is not a threat on the far side of the world but one which menaces European nations directly.
Half Iraqi army not ready
Half of the potential military prowess in Iraq is not capable of effectively teaming up with the United States. The other half requires rebuilding efforts consisting of additional training and equipment. Dempsey is hoping this force is made ready with intelligence, air surveillance and tactical air power, along with advisers to assist. Dempsey:
This is about training them in protected locations and then enabling them…
Dempsey also explains that a large US military force, also known as boots on the ground, cannot fix the problem of the Islamic State taking over large swaths of land. He says the key is to form an Iraqi government that unites the Kurdish and Sunni populations as equal partners. Dempsey:
I’m telling you, if that doesn’t happen then it’s time for Plan B.
The general further explains why even US air power cannot ultimately stop ISIS. Dempsey:
What we’ve seen so far is, a lot of the black flags have come down, a lot of the convoys have dispersed, a lot of the (fighter) assembly areas have been moved into urban areas. This will be a campaign of adaptation.
Local forces to fight ISIS
Hagel says that the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria will depend on local opposition:
The best counterweight against Isil are local forces
U.S. troops will not engage the group directly:
American forces will not have a combat mission.
He says U.S. forces in Iraq will operate out of Baghdad and Irbil, for a total of about 1,600 troops. will support Iraqi and Kurdish forces. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has agreed to host training grounds for more than 5,000 Syrian opposition forces, who will be given small arms, vehicles and communications equipment and training:
We would be prepared to provide increasingly [sophisticated] types of assistance.
The U.S. will select the Syrian opposition carefully:
A rigorous vetting process would be critical to the success of this program. There will always be risks. But we believe that risk is justified.
Approves Syrian airstrikes
Defense Secretary Hagel tells the Senate that he has approved a plan to conduct ‘targeted actions against [ISIS] safe havens in Syria.’
General Dempsey and I have both reviewed and approved the Cent Com plan.
This includes striking infrastructure. He says the U.S. has carried out more than 160 airstrikes so far, which have ‘disrupted’ ISIS.
Expands air campaign
Less than a week after President Obama pledged a multi-step campaign to degrade and destroy IS militants, U.S. attack and fighter aircraft are used Sunday and Monday beyond humanitarian missions and protecting U.S. personnel. Two airstrikes target ISIS positions in Sinjar to the north and southwest of Baghdad in support of Iraqi offensive operations. The number of air strikes has now risen to 162 since early August.
European Kurds take up arms
Kurds who live in Europe are leaving their homes and taking up arms against ISIS by joining the Peshmerga, a militia force in the Kurdish region of Iraq. Deputy Chairman of the Kurdish community in Germany, Mehmet Tanriverdi, knows of dozens of Kurds who are leaving Germany and other European countries to combat against ISIS. One potential participant is just a phone call away to leave his quiet life in Denmark in order to combat the “psychopaths” of the Islamic State. Pirani:
I feel so helpless here. I am ready to die for the Kurdish cause.
No air strikes
Cameron resists calls for the UK to join the U.S. in conducting airstrikes on ISIS. With the threat posed by ISIS to UK citizens underscored by the group’s execution of Haines, Cameron says the nation will stick with its approach of diplomatic pressure, supporting U.S. action and helping Iraqi and local Kurdish authorities. Televised statement:
As this strategy intensifies, we are ready to take whatever steps are necessary to deal with this threat and keep our country safe. Step by step, we must drive back, dismantle, and ultimately destroy ISIL (IS) and what it stands for. We will do so in a calm, deliberate way, but with an iron determination.