I just saw a big headline on a news site that proclaims how American planes have "pounded" ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria on Friday and Saturday. There were 25 raids on those two days and Saturday is not yet over. From the headline and the first few paragraphs of the story, one would think that an all out onslaught against ISIS was underway. The truth is something quite different.
Remember, 25 "raids" means that 25 planes were involved in individual attacks. If one plane few both days it counts as two "raids". If five planes hit one target, it counts as five "raids" in the parlance used by the military. So we had roughly 13 planes hit targets in the two countries each day. During the initial phase of the Iraq War, it would not have been unusual for there to be 500 planes hitting targets in one day. If you remember the "shock and awe" attack on Baghdad that began the Gulf War, there were over 100 planes involved in that one mission alone. The current level of attack is more like a tickle than a pounding. In fact, maybe we should start to call the Obama air power policy "trickle down bombing".
The targets hit by the planes are also important. On Friday and Saturday, there were two planes that hit targets in Ayn al Arab (or Kobani as most of the media calls it). The single most important battle in Syria against ISIS is underway and going poorly, and the USA supports the Kurds with two, TWO, bombing missions.
Remember, 25 "raids" means that 25 planes were involved in individual attacks. If one plane few both days it counts as two "raids". If five planes hit one target, it counts as five "raids" in the parlance used by the military. So we had roughly 13 planes hit targets in the two countries each day. During the initial phase of the Iraq War, it would not have been unusual for there to be 500 planes hitting targets in one day. If you remember the "shock and awe" attack on Baghdad that began the Gulf War, there were over 100 planes involved in that one mission alone. The current level of attack is more like a tickle than a pounding. In fact, maybe we should start to call the Obama air power policy "trickle down bombing".
The targets hit by the planes are also important. On Friday and Saturday, there were two planes that hit targets in Ayn al Arab (or Kobani as most of the media calls it). The single most important battle in Syria against ISIS is underway and going poorly, and the USA supports the Kurds with two, TWO, bombing missions.
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