No boots on the ground, my butt.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

Airstrikes don't find targets on their own. Somebody is on the ground calling in targets.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Shhhhhh........That's supposed to be a secret!

And I have no doubt you are correct.

[MineralMan]

2. Your butt is on the ground?

Stand up!

[Autumn]

3. Strange, that's exactly what my Husband said.

Some military men must be a tad bit suspicious.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

8. Yeah. My Lover Boy is ex-army. He clued me in.

[sabrina 1]

23. Mercenaries and 'proxy armies', like we had in Libya, from Qatar and Bahrain, our dictatorship

allies. And that turned out great for the civilians we were supposedly going to protect there. Remember British agents, both in Iraq btw, and Libya who were caught 'on the ground' also? Maybe they weren't wearing boots?

Blackwater, or whatever they are calling themselves now, moved to the ME a while ago.

Maybe they wear shoes so we can say honestly there are no boots on the ground.

[Autumn]

25. Shoes.

That might very well be. After all, our government and our President wouldn't lie to us.




Would they?

[neverforget]

4. That's what those 800 advisers (mostly Army Special Forces) are for: training and forward

observers to find targets.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2014/08/07/the-new-u-s-military-mission-in-iraq-what-we-know-now/

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement Thursday night that U.S. military advisers in Iraq will continue to assess ways to help train and assist Iraqi forces, and will provide undisclosed “increased support” once Iraq has formed a new government. Most of the troops there are U.S. Army Special Forces.

[woo me with science]

5. Liars

lie.

[TwilightGardener]

6. They sent those forces in already. The carrier was moved closer

back in June. They've been prepping for airstrikes for weeks now, I believe.

[JDPriestly]

12. Of course, think of it. It's good strategy.

ISIS has no air cover, no air transport. They are a long way from their home base. So of course it would have been strategically unwise to attack earlier.

I don't know enough about the situation to say whether I think we should stay out or not.

[TwilightGardener]

16. I imagine it takes a little while to get intelligence on targeting, especially since

this group is kind of tricky and erratic in movement, and don't have tons of equipment stored in one place to wipe out.

[morningfog]

7. Obama ordered up to 775 on the ground. How do you

Think we got personnel across Iraq that now need protecting.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

9. Actually, DU member Sunlei already found American boots on the ground...

I posted this pic:



The response was:

HEY!! those are OUR desert combat boots!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5360471

[Ken Burch]

13. And Haliburton probably got the contract to sell 'em.

...just sayin'...

[TwilightGardener]

14. What sort of maniacs wear black hoods and masks in 100+ degree weather?

That's how you know they're maniacs.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

15. No, that's how you know they don't want to be held accountable for their actions....

They are cowards that want to be able to toss away their disguise and vanish into the population if things turn against them.

[TwilightGardener]

17. Yeah, that too.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

18. Doesn't sound like they're expecting to be seen as "heroes",...does it.

[sabrina 1]

24. Or maybe they are not who we are being told they are? Looks like Hollywood outfits

to me. It worked before, 'imagery'. And we'll be getting lots of 'violent' video threats about 'destroying the US' I'm willing to bet.

Years of war needs the support of Americans. Can't get it if they don't have a simple explanation of WHY they should support it. 'Bad guys who look like maniacs are a threat to our security, listen to what they are threatening'. I believe John McCain already paved the way 'Isis is a threat to our security'. No one asked him how ...

[Spitfire of ATJ]

29. Here's a question: Who the fuck makes their flags?

Where do a bunch of supposedly ragtag rebels wanting a return to the 12th century come up with professional looking graphic prints like that? Mail order from China? Wanna talk "staged"? They look like they're held up with wire. The wind needed to make them look like that would be pretty intense.

[Autumn]

26. Yeah, nice boots. Damn nice boots. ........

you suppose?.... nah

[sabrina 1]

30. Lol, the guy with no hood looks like Bush. He has posed before in a hollywood

costume. Might have gone to the wrong casting call this time.

So our boots ARE on the ground, but whose feet are those?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

32. That's Isis. You know, McCain's "Freedom Fighters".

[MissDeeds]

10. War without end

[JDPriestly]

11. Drones?

[SQUEE]

21. SHHH

OPSEC

There are numerous ways to designate a target, from a FAO painting from the ground, to a wingman on same flight.

[tammywammy]

19. A Predator is able to fly around doing surveillance.

They could have a general area and search that way or be receiving intelligence from Iraqi intelligence on site without any Americans on the ground.

[RKP5637]

28. Good point! n/t

[Ex Lurker]

20. There's a big new JSOC headquarters in Erbil

and those Green Berets are up at the pointy end of the spear with the Peshmerga, regardless of what the official policy is.

[woo me with science]

22. k&r

[RKP5637]

27. Maybe they are barefoot? Yep, of course there is someone on the ground calling targets one

would think. And, I bet mission creep will continue and continue ...

[Savannahmann]

31. The Boots on the ground is the reason we started the airstrikes.

We put additional security forces and advisors into the country, and the first excuse on the bombs was that we had to protect those troops in the cities where they were securing American Embassy and other assets as well as training the Iraqi's.

If you have an hour, watch the linked BBC report on the kind of training we were/are giving the Iraqi forces.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025358477

My favorite part is a snippet of a press briefing where General Peter Pace says that the troops have a responsibility under regulations to stop any abuse of prisoners that they see. Rumsfeld says that he believes that means they are supposed to report the abuse. General Pace says no, if they are present, they must act to stop the abuse.