White House grapples with limits of air campaign in Iraq and Syria
As warplanes from the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates pounded Islamic State fighters near the Syrian city of Kobani for a third day, the U.S.-led military campaign began running up against the limits of what air power can accomplish. "Airstrikes alone are not going to save the town of Kobani," Rear Adm. John Kirby […]David S. Cloud writes for the Los Angeles Times:
As warplanes from the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates pounded Islamic State fighters near the Syrian city of Kobani for a third day, the U.S.-led military campaign began running up against the limits of what air power can accomplish.
"Airstrikes alone are not going to save the town of Kobani," Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday, adding that the militants "are going to continue to grab ground, and there are going to continue to be villages, towns and cities that they take" in Iraq and Syria. Kirby's frank acknowledgment came after nine weeks of bombing by the U.S. and its allies, which has not stopped Islamic militants from claiming new territory in both Syria and Iraq, a setback that military officials blamed on the poor performance of Iraqi and Syrian forces battling them on the ground.
