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US military will retain core strategy against Isis as Trump mulls escalation
Source: The Guardian
US military will retain core strategy against Isis as Trump mulls escalation
• Central Command indicates reliance on proxies for lion’s share of fighting
• Defense secretary to present options for expanding conflict next week
Spencer Ackerman in New York
Wednesday 22 February 2017 19.48 GMT
The US military command responsible for fighting the Islamic State has signaled it will retain one of the cornerstones of the Obama administration’s approach to the war, even as Donald Trump considers an escalation of the conflict.
With Iraqi forces, aided by American airstrikes and artillery, closing in on the Isis redoubt of western Mosul and an anticipated battle for Isis’s Syrian capital of Raqqa looming in the near future, the command indicated on Wednesday that it expects to hew toward relying on local proxies on the ground for the lion’s share of the fighting.
That approach, known as “By, With and Through”, has limited direct US combat to the hundreds of special operations troops, mostly in Syria, whom Barack Obama formally designated as “advisers” – and accordingly has kept US troop deaths low.
But it has also come under criticism for outsourcing the pacing of the war to Iraqi soldiers, Iranian-supported militias and fractious groups of Syrian rebels, some of whom have alarmed Nato ally Turkey and whose agendas can diverge from those of the United States.
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• Central Command indicates reliance on proxies for lion’s share of fighting
• Defense secretary to present options for expanding conflict next week
Spencer Ackerman in New York
Wednesday 22 February 2017 19.48 GMT
The US military command responsible for fighting the Islamic State has signaled it will retain one of the cornerstones of the Obama administration’s approach to the war, even as Donald Trump considers an escalation of the conflict.
With Iraqi forces, aided by American airstrikes and artillery, closing in on the Isis redoubt of western Mosul and an anticipated battle for Isis’s Syrian capital of Raqqa looming in the near future, the command indicated on Wednesday that it expects to hew toward relying on local proxies on the ground for the lion’s share of the fighting.
That approach, known as “By, With and Through”, has limited direct US combat to the hundreds of special operations troops, mostly in Syria, whom Barack Obama formally designated as “advisers” – and accordingly has kept US troop deaths low.
But it has also come under criticism for outsourcing the pacing of the war to Iraqi soldiers, Iranian-supported militias and fractious groups of Syrian rebels, some of whom have alarmed Nato ally Turkey and whose agendas can diverge from those of the United States.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/22/us-military-isis-strategy-trump-escalation
