Ramadi = Evidence Iraq Needs to Develope Rapid deployment force

by Ian Bach June 5, 2015 Quick Reaction Force ww2
A couple months News Orgs were reporting G2 involved in Iraq strategy to retake Mosul - outlining the units needed, their make-up, and it looked good, 8 or 10 Brigades 5 general army 2 counter insurgent / counter terrorist 1 or 3 i forget policing & other local forces, maybe a couple Sunni Militias would be best. But it also said Coalition "was not going to rush in without a good plan." My fear was they would drag their feet, and not do the correct thing = "Go for the Jugular".

So they did nothing but target retakes and some defensive lines. But like in World War 2 with Norway the allies didn't lose that battle, it was given away.

Mosul could have been attacked a month or 2 ago - "Cut the head of the Serpent" even if it meant U.N. Units........... but I would not use U.S. Units.

ISIS has been moving around doing stabbing attacks then fall back to ISIS held areas. These pin pricks have at times been more than pin pricks, and end up like Tikrit, Mosul, Raqqa, each city fell because there was no effective quick deployment strategies. At least not an effective one. If the American Generals wont help put it together, than Iraq needs to find a partner who can assist in the implementation of a effective response. For best effect America can make good use of the Air Force, look back at the "Berlin Airlift". Humanitarian aide and Troop transport, & aerial attacks on forces that follow suicide attacks, It must be a large scale endeavor, as told in every COIN (counterinsurgency)  story book, but almost never implemented.

I saw one ISIS post bragging that a ethnic Sunni tribe of 9 million has signed on with ISIS, eeeeerrrr NOT !....

More like a peace treaty that reads "We won't kill your Sheiks if you let us run everything". also if their is 9 million in that tribe I bet only 1-3 million in Iraq (rest in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, & elsewhere.) of 3 million how many soldiers can you get?

The answer is about 20,000 to 40,000 by my estimates another 10-20k accidental guerrillas, but you also  get a 10 x that in people who they can tax and control who works and who doesn't, they get into everything, people hate these guys, for good reason. People flee towns when ISIS comes knocking they don't cheer.. As long as that metric remains true, than the enemy has not only lost the battle, but they have lost the War.

I am not sure who is running the Overall Military "show" in Iraq, but they should be fired. If we don't even attempt to effectively counter the enemies abilities, strategies, and tactics, then we have lost the Battle, and the enemy will continue to gain ground, loot, kill rape, destroy history, etc.

ISIS strategy = Piss off non Muslims and non Sunni Arabs get into a fight for land and politics and minerals, make Money (prob #1 on their list) tax, tax, tax, also they sell electricity, gas, &water to Syrian Gov. Now in Iraq they can sell water to Iraqi Gov.with their Dam at Ramadi, of course looting is another activity they love to do, rape pillage etc etc, Their online strategy is mostly aimed at requirement, indoctrinator (making it look cool to some disenfranchised youth or some psycho
ISIS Tactics = Fast attacks on Mass, lots of very large suicide tanker bombs, at start of battle many other various suicide Attucks to target individuals sheiks and communities,, kill scholars, any highly educated and looked up to figures kill or their possessions, kill any brave outspken people asap, after that the remaining citizens will pretty much do what you say and pay your tax, they know they will be punished if they don't. The money is used to fun "Global JIhad". This was a strategy that al Qaeda had been pursuing long before ISIS.

Coalitions Strategy = Sit wait and think of a really cool plan !!! (while the walls fall in)
Coalition Tactics = Wait until the enemy has had time to piss off the locals and find some really cool hiding places !!! they will tunnel and they love to set up lots of IEDs. SO expect Huge loses - because you waited till the enemy had time to dig in, also higley restrict your air force from even thinking about hitting any targets, unless Some overworked guy okays it. I say over worked guy. Because from the number of strikes I see it must be a one man show. We need thousands of people in that endeavor alone. hundreds of eyes in the skies, and thousands of eyes on the ground. If we do have that, then someone onm top must be sitting on his hands. - by Ian Bach June 5, 2015
Quick Reaction Force ww2
Architect of Soviet Victory in World War II: The Life and Theories of G.S By Richard W. Harrison

Iranian Jets Operating in Syria

The Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF), entangled in a bloody civil war that will soon reach its four-year mark, relies heavily on Russia and Iran to keep attrition from diminishing its firepower. After having upgraded several SyAAF Mi-17s with armour plates and FLIR cameras, stationing Mojaher 4, Yasir and Shahed 129 UAVs in Syria and even providing an Il-76TD to the SyAAF on behalf of Syrian Air, Iran is now further consoldating its stake in the conflict by the delivery of ten Su-22s to Syria.

These ten aircraft, part of a batch of 40 flown to Iran during Operation Desert Storm for safekeeping, were finally overhauled in recent years after idly standing around at Shiraz airbase for decades while their fate was decided upon. Initially regarded as “guests” and maintained only to keep them in good condition, they were formally put into Iranian possession in July 1993 but could not be made operational due to budgetary constraints: A team of Ukrainian technical advisors were contracted to overhaul the Su-22s, but at the time this proved to be too expensive for the ill-funded Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF). Instead, the IRIAF was to restore the ten Su-22M-3 and Su-22M-4s to operational condition without any foreign help by using other Su-22s and Su-20s as a source for spare parts. This programme only commenced in 2013, when the Revolutionary Guard’s Pars Aviation embarked on the task of bringing the first Su-22s back to operational condition.

Back to the midst of the war in Syria, where the SyAAF fighter-bomber fleet continuously finds itself flying an increasing amount of sorties while the number of operational air frames continues to dwindle. The SyAAF, originally geared towards fighting a fierce but short war with Israel, never anticipated to get tangled up in a war of attrition between the pro-Assad party and its adversaries. As a result, all of Syria’s MiG-23BNs and most of the Su-22s originally destined for replacement in this decade are now on the forefront of the aerial bombing campaign against rebel positions and villages. This led to a decreasing availability of the MiG-23BN and Su-22 fleet, which in turn  are grounded for weeks at a time to allow for some much needed maintenance for certain air frames, their role being temporarily taken over by fighters such as the MiG-23MF, MiG-23ML(D) and MiG-29.

The fate of Iran’s Su-22s was also sealed in the meantime: The fleet was to join the Aerospace Wing of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGCASF) instead of the IRIAF. At least six Iranian pilots were subsequently converted to the Su-22 in Syria, and later sent to Belarus for further training on simulators in preparation of the introduction of the Su-22. The programme took a surprising turn after it was suddenly cancelled several months ago, and on the direct order of Khamenei, the ten Su-22s were put onboard Il-76s and flown to Syria. By this time, only the Su-22’s fuselages had been completely overhauled, and once arrived in Syria, the SyAAF completed the process.

The first of these new Su-22s was spotted while bombing the town of Talbeesa, Homs Governorate, on the 9th of March 2015. The title of the video claims ”New type of warplanes bombing Talbeesa in Homs”. The aircraft donned a new camouflage scheme that appears to have been applied recently, and although it has not been seen on Syrian Su-22s in the past, it bears some resemblance to that of the SyAAF’s overhauled L-39s.

The sighting of the aircraft comes amidst a series of discoveries about Iran’s increasing military presence and exports in Yemen, Sudan, Libya, Iraq and of course Syria, and follows a widely covered exercise in which a mock-up aircraft carrier was destroyed by anti-ship missiles and fast attack craft.

The continued stream of military support to Syria shows the extent of the Iranian determination in their effort to support the Syrian regime, and once again shows how far the conflict is from finally reaching a conclusion.

Special thanks to Tom Cooper and ACIG original post here.