Aerial Warfare Insufficient to Defeat the Islamic State

Naval and military commanders admitted that airpower may not suffice in targeting Islamic State fighters, the China Central Television News reported Thursday.

“The airstrikes can only do so much,” explained Captain Benjamin Hewlett, air wing commander of the uss Roosevelt. “[W]e’re being very effective, and we’re there to support. But, I think in the end, it’s going to be a ground fight. And Iraqis are on the ground, and we’re there to support them. But, a lot of times, they haven’t moved forward, or they haven’t had the ability to move forward; they’ve tried and been unsuccessful.”

Most of the military aircraft deployed in the campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria are F-18 fighter jets from the uss Roosevelt situated in the Persian Gulf. According to the vessel’s commanders, about 20 sorties go out every day. But the coalition has yet to take back Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul, which was seized by the Islamic State last year.

In May, the Islamic State gained more ground by taking two key cities: Ramadi, Iraq, and Palmyra, Syria.

The Obama administration’s decision last week to send 450 more military advisers to Iraq is seen as a way of shoring up Iraq’s military without entering too deeply into the conflict.