According to the New york Times, North American intelligence has discovered what seem to be the headquarters of ISIS in the local town of Raqqa, in eastern Syria. Surprisingly enough, they’ve been completely unharmed through the duration of the battles lasting for the past 10 months, which inevitably leads to suspicious questions. Is someone protecting them?
Officials of the US army have said that the reason they haven’t attacked these sitting ducks is out of fear of killing innocent civilians and bystanders. However, it’s not their life they treasure so dearly, but the propagandistic effect their deaths could have amongst the local population, perhaps turning them against the USA.
Iraq feels somewhat different however. They fear that not attacking ISIS on time and on spot can lead to an eventual conquer of their territory by the Islamic State forces, a situation they strongly feel should worry the west as well. Most of the allied air strikes concentrate over the territories of Ramadi and Baiji, conveniently protecting the large oil refineries in the area. In fact, as much as 80% of allied air power is protecting this territory alone in their campaign in Irak.
The situation in Syria is even more dramatic in military terms. The Huffington Post’s Spanish edition has revealed that today alone, ISIS has slaughtered 400 women and children. Military officials argue constantly over which targets to strike or not, giving the Islamic State radicals and militia enough time to gather up and change positions.
The 2011 campaign in Libya alone had over 50 air strikes a day compared to the 15 that occur today in Syria. The White House seems to have a say in this, having limited the daily bombings. American Colonels and Generals are very frustrated with this decision, since they feel this little engagement is lifting the spirits of ISIS’ militia and their supporters all over this warzone.
