On Memorial Day, U.S. Troops Are at War With Islamic State Near Mosul
On Memorial Day, it is well to remember that U.S. troops are still at war.
Shutterstock
Shutterstock
This post originally ran on Truthdig contributor Juan Cole’s website.
On Memorial Day, it is as well to remember that US troops are still at war. Afghanistan is our nation’s longest such military engagement.
But although there are only about 3,000 troops in Iraq and just a couple hundred in Syria, they are at the front lines in confronting the most dangerous terrorist groups.
After having caught sight of US special operations forces fighting alongside the leftist Kurdish YPG militia in Syria near the Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) HQ of al-Raqqa, Agence France Presse got another coup on Saturday by discovering similar US forces embedded with Kurdish Peshmerga fighters of the Kurdistan Regional Authority in their assault on Daesh position at Khazir to the east of Mosul. The Peshmerga are attempting to liberate from Daesh control several villages near Khazir, which were historically populated by Kurds but had been taken over by the terrorist organization in 2014. AFP reporters were instructed to delete any photographs they took of the US troops.
A former US military officer has said that US troops are actively engaged in fighting at both major remaining fronts against Daesh, al-Raqqa an Mosul. Some 5,000 Peshmerga are involved in the taking of Khazir, which the Pentagon described as one of several “shaping operations” being engaged in in the Mosul area to soften up Daesh in preparation for the ultimate assault on that city.
The line of the Obama administration had been that US troops on the ground in Iraq and Syria were only trainers and advisors. But in a Sky News interview yesterday, former assistant secretary of state and former brigadier general Mark Kimmitt admitted that here and there the US forces had exceeded that role. He also admitted that it had become difficult for the US to keep it secret. He said it had been found ineffective for US advisers to proffer their counsel from 50 miles away, and that it had been determined that it was better for them to advise while on the battlefield at the front.
WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...This year, the ground feels uncertain — facts are buried and those in power are working to keep them hidden. Now more than ever, independent journalism must go beneath the surface.
At Truthdig, we don’t just report what's happening — we investigate how and why. We follow the threads others leave behind and uncover the forces shaping our future.
Your tax-deductible donation fuels journalism that asks harder questions and digs where others won’t.
Don’t settle for surface-level coverage.
Unearth what matters. Help dig deeper.
Donate now.
Middle East
What did we think nearly 50 years of war and neglect was going to do to the country?
Middle East
What some in Joe Biden's administration appear to see as an opportunity to sideline Hezbollah is really a trap destined for failure.
TD Interview
A new book offers a personal and political history of Bush-era America and its imprints on the present.
Film
With unprecedented access to the Taliban, the documentary “Hollywoodgate” makes promises it can’t keep.
Wounds of War
Over the decades, the DoD has been responsible for the deaths of scores of civilians, but compensating those harmed has never been a serious priority.
Opinion
Where’s the headline-making outrage over the never-ending travesty of Gitmo?
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.