Public opinion is predominantly critical of the US military operations against ISIS, expressing skepticism about their effectiveness, concerns regarding political leadership, and feelings of futility regarding the outcomes in Afghanistan. While there is a strong appreciation for the sacrifices made by service members, many commenters feel the operations have failed to achieve meaningful results and question the ethics behind the engagements.

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That's fucking HUGE news. Well done folks 👏

killua443


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GassyMexican2000

Thats sweet , israel is probably mad as hell

smallcheezeburger

nice to see centcom and the new govt working together. i am very impressed by centcom boss kurilla. if you hear his story you would be in awe. shame he is retiring

Fun-Link1646

[deleted]

- Baghdad is a larger city, harder to conquer, and had a higher caliber of forces defending it


- Far more Shias in Baghdad, less willing to accept Sunni rule


- Shia leaders called for mass mobilization of militia fighters to defeat ISIS


- Iran sent the IRGC to support the militias


- Fall of Mosul triggered a dramatic expansion of US led coalition support


- Holding and governing Mosul took a not insubstantial amount of ISIS's manpower


- Not a lot of viable routes between Mosul and Baghdad, limiting the options for moving bringing vehicles to bear and creating chokepoints vulnerable to coalition airstrikes

houinator

Already good responses in here, but to add some anecdotal experience: I was a Special Operations JTAC sent to Baghdad at this time. I remember watching on CNN their top Pentagon reporter explain how ISIS was "[just 8 miles](https://www.cnn.com/videos/bestoftv/2014/10/13/tsr-starr-dnt-isis-baghdad-airport.cnn)" from Baghdad Airport, and though the situation was certainly serious, we were not in panic mode at all. 

We flexed a lot of airpower into theater and the interior lines of the Shia militias/Iraqi military were A LOT shorter while the interior lines of ISIS were A LOT longer. At no point did it realistically feel, from my vantage point, that Baghdad would fall. In fact, the most jarring thing to me was how vulnerable ISIS formations were because they encountered steady air attacks for the first time and could no longer mass in the open so much.

Humble_Errol_Flynn

It was both really. Baghdad's population didn't favour ISIS like Mosul's did and the forces there were actually protecting their families against people who would massacre said families. That means that those troops didn't just break and run at the first sign of an attack like what happened in Mosul. Troops actually fighting also meant that ISIS just didn't have the troops and materials to win. Especially not with them being under international bombardment and needing a lot of guys just to keep control of what they had.

Dolnikan

Iran, Iran, Iran, Iran.

The Iranians jumped in hard and revealed their power network in Iraq. All their militias that had fought the Americans and governed their own fiefs picked up and headed north. And the Iranian state theocracy issued a holy war requiring every Shia male to fight and sent in their Green Beret equivalents (IRGC Quds) to lead them equipped and train them to provide new loyal units to Iran and provided re enforcement to loses in those previously mentioned militias.

Frankly it was an absolute proving of the concept of the green berets as a trainer force leading and advising local troops. Shame it wasn’t the GBs actually pulling it off but whatever. 

This also had the effect of forcing anti Iranians militias both Shia and Sunni to also head north or risk creditability which rallied those anti Iranian troops to the central control of the Iranian Quds force. This gave the Iraqi government military and police units much needed time to get their shit together. 

A lot can be said about American air power and artillery especially later in the conflict but in terms of stopping the advance dead that required a lot of high morale infantry and Iran and the Iraqi Shia effectively pulled infantry divisions out of thin air.

count210

Interesting to read this after Trump just issued strikes on Iran. I just discovered a significant amount of information linking the US to Israeli conflicts spanning across the past thirty years and am still researching to try to piece everything together. It’s important to note, however, that a recent video was published showing Trump answering questions from news reporters, and of course, since we all know he is not particularly smart, he made a very odd comment about similarities between the War in Iraq and the current war.

That’s when it struck me that the US government has been assisting Netanyahu in reaching his goals of “reshaping the Middle East” over the past thirty years. Even crazier is that George Bush Sr. intensely disliked Netanyahu because he felt the Israeli PM did not have any interest in establishing peace. If only we knew the full scope of what GWB’s father had known.

CyclonicHavoc

Israel is a very small country and has historically given back most land taken in wars. Not really an expansionist country. Having jihadists in the refugee areas is the real security problem.

palmpoop

It's interesting stuff. I don't necessarily buy into the idea that Israel was a directing force in any of this but is definitely clear that ideologically Israel is the kind of state neocons would have steadfast support for a militaristic democracy in a region of the world not known for democracy. Add in a healthy dose of Christian zionism to get the rest of the republicans on board...

Buy yeah the fact of the matter is the neocons planned to invade and enact regime change in many countries, the only reason Iran never got the treatment is because Iraq turned out to be such a disaster,

On another note it's interesting how many of the problems we face with extremists can be linked to blowback from our own actions, Encouraging the spread of Salafi Revivalism to counter the spread of Marxism in the middle east. Arming and training Jihadists in the Afghan Mujahedeen to counter the soviet union. Playing different militias off each other in Iraq. Arming Jihadists against Assad.

PerceivingUnkown

I have a simple explanation that sums up the ideological stances Palestinians have that would clash with our American perspectives and way of life. They'd throw homosexuals from rooftops; women would and are treated as second-class citizens with their rights dictated by male guardians; freedom of speech is nonexistent, with blasphemy and apostasy being capital crimes; and the entire concept of a secular democracy with individual liberty would be rejected in favor of a state ruled by strict religious law.

In stark contrast, Israel is a parliamentary democracy where fundamental liberties are legally protected. Its founding documents guarantee social and political rights to all citizens regardless of religion, race, or sex, and it maintains democratic institutions like a multi-party political system, a free press, and an independent judiciary.

This democratic foundation is central to its international standing. As a long-standing member of the United Nations, Israel is recognized by the vast majority of countries, including major world powers like the United States, China, India, Russia, Brazil, Japan, and Germany.

So, which would you rather have, the society described first in the Palestinian territories, or the one based on the ideas from Israel?

MrPatri0t

Tankie propaganda. Ironic how you can’t tell anyone if the tankie propaganda is coming from the far left or the far right. The “boogaloo boys” and “Fatties for Palestine” - flip side of the same tankie coin

BizzareRep

Copy paste conspiracy theory? I'm not sure if you're alleging Israel and pro-Israeli US neoconservatists hijacked the American military budget, or that the US used Israel to initiate wars for it.


In any case, it ignores the impact the 2nd intifada had which pushed Israel to lean into the paper's policy.


Israel colonizing the middle east, you say? Can you be more specific about what dies colonizing means (European Colonialism?) And where exactly in the middle east?

-Mr-Papaya

@grok summarize in one phrase.

“Incoherent drivel”

Ok_Maximum_5205

Reddit will not allow me to link to my sources as one or more of the domains are subject to a sitewide ban. So I removed the sources and will link them when the mods tell me how.

Critter-Enthusiast

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You have any info on current operations in Boucle du Mouhoun?

xxRecon0321xx

can someone pls explain who the terrorist org is? / their motives

dustydancers

The U.S. military conducted a ground raid in Syria, eliminating a senior ISIS leader and highlighting ongoing anti-terrorism efforts in the region.

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