US: Airstrikes won’t save Kobane
NEW YORK – As fighting between Islamic State (IS) and Kurdish forces in Kobane grew fiercer on Wednesday, US officials warned that air strikes alone will not save those defending the northern Syria town.
“Airstrikes alone are not going to do this,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said, as Islamist militiamen advanced into the Kurdish town, close to Turkey’s border. “They're not going to save the town of Kobane.”
US commanders intensified airstrikes on IS around Kobane on Tuesday and Wednesday, hitting armed vehicles, artillery and a troop carrier. But US plans to arm and train 5,000 moderate Syrians to fight IS are months from completion.
“We don’t have a willing, capable, effective partner on the ground inside Syria right now. It's just a fact. I can't change that,” Rear Adm. Kirby added.
IS jihadists have weathered US airstrikes, entered Kobane and are battling the Kurdish fighters inside. A three-week assault has claimed 400 lives and sent 180,000 civilians, mostly Kurds, fleeing across the Turkish border.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has faced criticism for not allowing military support to the border town. Ankara is concerned about IS retaliation and of helping Syrian Kurds, who have links to Turkey’s own restive Kurdish population.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said talks with Turkey continue, but that US plans to defeat IS – a sectarian Sunni militia that also known as ISIS and ISIL – are part of a broader strategy that will not be accomplished overnight.
“As horrific as it is to watch in real time what’s happening in Kobane, it’s also important to remember that you have to step back and understand the strategic objective,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Kurdish-Americans of Nashville, home to the largest US Kurdish community, announced plans to protest a US Government building on Friday. Others have petitioned Congress for more US airstrikes and for arming Kobane’s Kurdish fighters.
“If they do not degrade and defeat ISIL in towns like Kobane, we may have to do that in our Western capitals,” the petition says. “Make no mistake, this is genocide in motion, and it does not stop here. How many times must we all say ‘never again’?”
US President Barack Obama says IS can be routed with airstrikes and by arming Kurds, Iraqis and moderate Syrian opposition fighters as ground forces. Critics say he over-depends on air power, lacks reliable allies and has no solution to Syria’s civil war.
“If airstrikes were effective, ISIS would never have gotten to Kobane in the first place,” Christopher Harmer, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, told Rudaw. “US airstrikes around Kobane, in the region of 10 sorties a day, is not doing anything significant to the militants.”
The petition can be found here:
http://www.petition2congress.com/16594/support-kurdish-people
“Airstrikes alone are not going to do this,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said, as Islamist militiamen advanced into the Kurdish town, close to Turkey’s border. “They're not going to save the town of Kobane.”
US commanders intensified airstrikes on IS around Kobane on Tuesday and Wednesday, hitting armed vehicles, artillery and a troop carrier. But US plans to arm and train 5,000 moderate Syrians to fight IS are months from completion.
“We don’t have a willing, capable, effective partner on the ground inside Syria right now. It's just a fact. I can't change that,” Rear Adm. Kirby added.
IS jihadists have weathered US airstrikes, entered Kobane and are battling the Kurdish fighters inside. A three-week assault has claimed 400 lives and sent 180,000 civilians, mostly Kurds, fleeing across the Turkish border.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has faced criticism for not allowing military support to the border town. Ankara is concerned about IS retaliation and of helping Syrian Kurds, who have links to Turkey’s own restive Kurdish population.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said talks with Turkey continue, but that US plans to defeat IS – a sectarian Sunni militia that also known as ISIS and ISIL – are part of a broader strategy that will not be accomplished overnight.
“As horrific as it is to watch in real time what’s happening in Kobane, it’s also important to remember that you have to step back and understand the strategic objective,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Kurdish-Americans of Nashville, home to the largest US Kurdish community, announced plans to protest a US Government building on Friday. Others have petitioned Congress for more US airstrikes and for arming Kobane’s Kurdish fighters.
“If they do not degrade and defeat ISIL in towns like Kobane, we may have to do that in our Western capitals,” the petition says. “Make no mistake, this is genocide in motion, and it does not stop here. How many times must we all say ‘never again’?”
US President Barack Obama says IS can be routed with airstrikes and by arming Kurds, Iraqis and moderate Syrian opposition fighters as ground forces. Critics say he over-depends on air power, lacks reliable allies and has no solution to Syria’s civil war.
“If airstrikes were effective, ISIS would never have gotten to Kobane in the first place,” Christopher Harmer, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, told Rudaw. “US airstrikes around Kobane, in the region of 10 sorties a day, is not doing anything significant to the militants.”
The petition can be found here:
http://www.petition2congress.com/16594/support-kurdish-people