WASHINGTON — Pentagon officials are expressing caution about intensifying the air war against Islamic State militants, despite calls by Iraqi leaders to step up the pace of airstrikes.
Since the bombing campaign against the Islamic State began in August, the international coalition has conducted more than 1,300 airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, the bulk by American forces.
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During a visit to Iraq earlier this month by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Iraqi leaders called for more bombing, according to Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby. But U.S. military officials have indicated that they’re not inclined to ramp up operations — at least not in the near term.
One major concern for the Pentagon is the risk of civilian or friendly-fire casualties, which could create operational and political problems for the coalition.
“The coalition is really very deliberate about how it conducts strikes out there,” Army Lt. Gen. James Terry, the commander of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday.
“We have some great capability in terms of precision. [But] what’s in the balance here is, if you’re not careful … you can strike [Sunni] tribes, you could strike Iraqi security forces, and you could create a very bad situation … We’re very conscious of any collateral damage.”
Terry said that up to this point, he’s seen no reports of civilian casualties resulting from coalition airstrikes.
Another issue that makes calling in strikes more challenging is the fact that the U.S. has no forward air controllers near the front lines spotting targets. The Obama administration doesn’t want American ground forces directly involved in combat operations, and U.S. troops are therefore required to stay away from the fight.
According to Terry, the process in place now requires U.S. advisers and Iraqi personnel at the division headquarters level report back to joint operations centers in Baghdad and Irbil about the locations of Iraqi forces and Islamic State fighters. American intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft flying overhead also feed information to the JOCs. Officials at the JOCs then use that information to tell coalition air crews where to strike.
Some Iraqi leaders are reportedly keen to go on the offensive in places like Mosul, an Islamic State stronghold. But American military officials feel like the ISF need more training and preparation before launching such an operation.
“It takes some patience as we continue to build the Iraqi security forces out there,” Terry said. He said it will take “a minimum of three years” before the ISF and Kurdish peshmerga are capable of defeating the Islamic State group.
A large contingent of American trainers will begin deploying to Iraq in the coming weeks, according to Terry.
When it comes to airstrikes, “We’ve been very effective in delivering those fires” and “I think we’ve got it just about right,” Terry said.
A U.S. military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Stars and Stripes that the Iraqis’ desire for more American assistance was understandable, but acceding to those demands at the present time wouldn’t be in America’s interest.
“A government dealing with an adversary like [the Islamic State] is always going to want the most military capability possible,” the official said, but “our pace needs to be such that we… [aren’t] getting too far out in front of the ISF and making this our fight” instead of an Iraqi fight.
harper.jon@stripes.com
Twitter: @JHarperStripes
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