Air Power Remains America’s Best Weapon for Halting Islamic State

A-10 Warthogs flying in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. U.S. Air Force

November 10, 2015 Michael W. Pietrucha & Jeremy Renken – War is Boring

Supporting friendly forces on the ground will keep us out of another quagmire

A year into the coalition campaign, air power has proven an effective instrument to both weaken Daesh and aid friendly forces. But with sectarian divisions and the Bashar Al Assad regime’s brutality creating a steady flow of recruits to replace battlefield losses, there is no indication that Daesh will starve, unravel or be conventionally “defeated” anytime soon. Yet, if Daesh has not disintegrated, it has also not gained significant territory since the fall of Ramadi — which was more than offset by losses in north-central Iraq and in Kurdish areas along the Syria-Turkey border. The notable exception to that rollback has been Daesh’s advance into south-central Syria around Palmyra, where Daesh is fighting not against Kurds or the Free Syrian Army, but against Assad regime forces, thus denying coalition air power a “friendly” force with whom to coordinate.

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