Despite over 400 air strikes by the U.S. military alone and other operations carried out by British, French and even by the UAE (United Arab Emirates) air forces, many military experts have expressed that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria still maintain free reign in the Iraq-Syria area. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) announced that ISIS militants have now reached a point only 5 kilometers away from the Turkish border.
The U.S. Navy and Air Force has been receiving a great deal of criticism for not being able to stop the ISIS Jihads. The Kurdistan city of Cobanbey (also known as Ayn Arab), only a few kilometers away from the Turkish border is on the brink of ISIS occupation. Turkish leaders have asserted that a new solution must be found. Rear Admiral John Kirby, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defense provided a possible solution to limitations of America’s current strategies. The main objective was to more effectively tackle ISIS while minimizing civilian casualties.
Kirby and other experts explained that the reason why the militants are able to acquire large sums of territory and resources even with over 400 U.S. air strikes is because of their strategy to disperse and move to new destinations in small groups. Kirby added that ISIS militants are even listening to radio signals to try and predict when and where the next air strikes will happen.
One solution was the adoption of a new weapon. One such tool is the GBU-39 smart bomb that was developed by Boeing. This bomb that uses an extremely accurate guidance system is able to hit targets that are over 150 miles away from the air craft from which it is released and because its damage radius is only approximately 13 meters, it is less likely to inflict damage upon civilians. Being around only 4 feet long, the GBU-39 was designed for aircraft with smaller payloads such as the F-15 Eagle. However, operations from the air are still not enough to defeat such an evasive enemy.
Another important factor is information from the ground. It is believed that the Pentagon is considering dispatching Special Operations Forces (SOF). Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that they are considering dispatching Delta Force under SOCCENT. Other countries like the United Kingdom have already secretly sent their own Special Ops Forces including SAS and SBS. The general opinion among the allied forces is that although air strikes will continue to be the core of their operations against the Islamic State, they are in desperate need of intelligence from the ground to make their strategies more effective.
