The US special departments eliminate a medium-high profile figure of the Islamic State every two days. "Every 48 hour we eliminate at least one target, undermining the capacity of terrorists in Syria and Iraq." It's what transpires from a report by the Department of Defense delivered to the White House.
It would have been precisely this "targeting leader" capacity that would have pushed President Obama to strengthen the presence of special department operators already active in the Region with other 100 elements.
"Special operations in Iraq and Syria are aimed at identifying and eliminating leaders. The self-expanding capability we will acquire will lead to greater data collection on the ground. The more data we have, the greater our ability to eliminate enemies ".
No coincidence that the statement comes a few hours after Obama's decision to send other units chosen among Green caps, SEAL e Delta Force.
The CIA is also in Iraq, but operates according to guidelines other than regular troops. What the Americans called "License To Kill" is part of the new strategy of the Obama administration against the Islamic State.
The targeting operations leader, also baptized as "removed from the battlefield", have already led to the elimination of Haji Mutazz, deputy commander of the Islamic State in Iraq and of Junaid Hussain and Jihadi John (for the latter there is no evidence of DNA ) in Syria. The new tactics were authorized in the raid that led to the elimination of Abu Sayyaf, last May in Syria, a key figure in the economy of the caliphate.
According to the Department of Defense, "the Islamic state today has a degraded force, completely different from the one it had a year ago when it was expanding in both countries. They have lost about a quarter of the occupied territory and are severely limited in their movements. But a degraded force still remains extremely dangerous ". The new assassination force will join the 50 green caps already present in Syria.
Finally, it should be remembered that 24 was issued several hours ago by the Operation command Inherent Resolve: "It is likely that our operators could also capture militants, but we are sending a small group of highly qualified commandos for limited, surgical operations. Their use will be limited. Of course, for us it would be better to capture someone alive so as to obtain information, but we think from time to time. First the safety of our boys, then we'll see. It is too early to determine what will happen to the prisoners, when and if we catch them ".
(photo: US Army)
