Islamic State: US F-16 fighters fly first missions from Turkey

[webfact]

US F-16 fighters fly first missions from Turkey
By ROBERT BURNS

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Wednesday launched its first airstrikes by Turkey-based F-16 fighter jets against Islamic State targets in Syria, marking a limited escalation of a yearlong air campaign that critics have called excessively cautious.

In a brief statement the Pentagon announced the F-16 strikes were launched from Incirlik air base in southern Turkey but provided no details on the number or types of targets struck.

A U.S. defense official said later that two of the six F-16s based at Incirlik flew the mission over Syria to hit one or more targets that had been selected in advance. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the mission.

Earlier this month the U.S. began flying armed drones from Incirlik, but the F-16 flights add a new dimension to the air campaign, in part because of the added risk to pilots who might encounter Syrian or other air defenses.

Pentagon officials have said the main advantage of using Incirlik is its proximity to Islamic State targets in northern Syria, although a senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday that the F-16s may also be used on missions over Iraq. The official was not authorized to discuss F-16 mission details publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Most U.S. aerial combat missions over Iraq and Syria are being flown from more distant air bases in Qatar and elsewhere in the Persian Gulf region, although the U.S. also is flying F-16s from Muwaffaq Salti air base in Jordan.

The official said the Incirlik-based F-16s are equipped with surveillance and reconnaissance equipment in addition to weapons, and thus can be used to verify targeting information that may be provided by local Syrians or Iraqis cooperating with the U.S. A total of six F-16s are operating from Incirlik; they are from the 31st Fighter Wing based at Aviano, Italy.

With the threat of Syrian air defenses in mind, the U.S. military is considering how to reconfigure its network of combat search-and-rescue forces in the region, the senior defense official said. The official indicated those forces are deemed sufficient for the moment but might change. Other officials have said the U.S. also is considering placing refueling aircraft at Incirlik in support of the F-16 mission.

After months of negotiations between Washington and Ankara, the Turkish government agreed in late July to permit the U.S. to station aircraft at Incirlik in southern Turkey.

A Foreign Ministry official in Ankara said Wednesday that Turkey has not carried out its own airstrikes against the Islamic State recently because the U.S. asked it to wait so that the two countries can coordinate efforts. The official asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The senior U.S. defense official in Washington said the two governments are working on a memorandum of understanding that would set the terms under which Turkish warplanes would be integrated into the U.S.-led air campaign.

Christopher Harmer, a senior naval analyst at the Institute for the Study of War and a retired Navy commander, said the deployment of six F-16s to Turkey provides only a marginal improvement to U.S. air operations against the Islamic State, in part by shortening the flying distance to targets in northern Syria.

More broadly, the escalation is important for bringing Turkey more directly in the conflict, Harmer said.

"Turkey is coming off the sideline," Harmer said. "More than anybody else in the region, Turkey did not want to tangle with ISIS," he added, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State group. "All that nastiness that ISIS can do could be turned against Turkey in very short order."

The Turkish situation is especially touchy in political terms, in part because Turkey is a NATO ally with a different perspective on the Islamic State problem. Whereas the U.S. is focused on fighting the Islamic State militants and has partnered with Syrian Kurds to that end, Turkey's main priority is curtailing growing Kurdish power along its southern border with Syria.

The Turks worry that Kurdish gains in Iraq and in Syria will encourage a revival of a Kurdish armed insurgency in Turkey in pursuit of an independent state. The PKK, a Kurdish terror group, killed two Turkish police officers and the Turks have retaliated, bombing their positions. Other Kurdish fighters have been effective against the Islamic State.

"For a long, long time Turkey has struggled mightily to stay out of this fight because they are so vulnerable," Harmer said.

An early indication of Turkish concern about the chaos in Syria was its request in 2012 for NATO missile defense support. Since early 2013 a number of NATO countries have operated Patriot missile defenses in southern Turkey, including a U.S. Army Patriot unit based at Gaziantep, due north of the Syrian city of Aleppo.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-08-13

[JetsetBkk]

Better late than never. (Where have I heard that before?)

So when do get some boots on the ground?

After next US election?

[MrBrilliant]

Go wipe them out!!!

[DeaconJohn]

Better late than never. (Where have I heard that before?)

So when do get some boots on the ground?

After next US election?

The invasion and occupation of Middle-Eastern countries by the US and its allies has been a conspicuous failure for a long time now.

How long do we have to repeat past mistakes?

[Rancid]

Hmm, 6 jets to take on ISIS. That 'ill sure put the fear of God in 'em. Wars can't be won from airstrikes, no doubt the cannon fodder will be sent in at some stage, perhaps some new outrage to get the public riled up is due.

That aside sounds like Mr Harmer is talking a complete load of BS and I'm sure he knows it.

[ABCer]

Sad and sorry world.

Now Turkey will take the opportunity to squash Kurdish freedom hopes under the guise of fighting IS.

Despite the fact that Kurds are enemies of IS and fighting them more genuinely than Turkey.

With total indifference from US and Europe. Dirty politics.

[Exsexyman]

Trying to defeat ISIS by bombing them is like trying to juggle smoke! But they know that, this is just an exercise in giving the impression to the great unwashed that something is being done. Sadly there are far too many who believe it. ABCer is absolutely correct in his observations regarding Turkey and the Kurds, dirty politics indeed. Yet the true enemies of ISIS and their forerunners Al Qaeda, who actively took them on and gave them no quarter to gain a foothold in their countries were Libya under Ghaddafi and Iraq under Hussain. So they had to go! Likewise now Iran and Assad in Syria are doing the same. If our Western leaders had got their way and toppled Assad a couple of years ago Syria would now be under the control of ISIS, with all the misery that would have caused. Just like Libya today, persecution and slaughter of Christians and other groups who are not considered 'devout' enough. Like it or not this is what our leaders are quite happy to be visited upon the populations of these countries. Given that the governments of the West are doing everything they can to undermine the governments of the two countries who are actively resisting ISIS on the ground, the only conclusion that can be drawn, given the old truism,'The enemy of my enemy is my friend', is that our enemy is clearly not ISIS. No matter how hard that may be for some to swallow.

[Scott]

The ME was, is and will continue to be a smoldering mess for a very long time, with or without western involvement. The gov'ts of Iran, Iraq, and Syria, if it is still actually is a functioning country with a gov't, are not going to allow for the widespread arming of the Kurds. Those countries risk losing large swaths of land should the Kurds get any type of independence and that is and has always been an underlying goal. The Kurds are useful pawns in this situation, but have no aspirations to protect the Iranians, Turks or Arabs. They are protecting their homeland and their brethren.

It's also important to remember that the Kurds are far from a homogeneous group. There are different tribal groups and political affiliations and there are linguistic differences between them. The Iraqi Kurds fought for many years with one another, with one main group aligned to Masoud Barzani and another to Jalal Telabani (the KDP and PUK were the political groups). Turkey, of course has a whole different group, the PKK. They also are represented by Sunni, Shia, Christian and various other religious beliefs.

The Kurds have historically turned to the West for support because the West is much more likely to help them than any of the other groups in the region.

This fight is complicated, but Western troops on the ground at this point have the potential to be more of a lightening rod for problems than a solution.

If ISIS was defeated tomorrow, the realigning and fight for power among various ethnic and tribal groups would continue.

[how241]

Better late than never. (Where have I heard that before?)

So when do get some boots on the ground?

After next US election?

They need to step it up...Hit harder.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

All smoke... air strikes are just another brainwash for the masses to give the impression that something is done. Without ground troops there is no chance to wipe the IS out; but to wipe them out is also not the intention of big brother as no one makes money in times of peace.

[Scott]

An off-topic post has been removed.

[simple1]

Better late than never. (Where have I heard that before?)

So when do get some boots on the ground?

After next US election?

Who do you think would be a viable and acceptable government for territories recaptured from Daesh and other Islamist groups? Certainly the Assad regime with it's appalling crimes against humanity will be rejected by a number of the regional & international balance of power players. As Scott has inferred a very complex scenario & currently absent of political leaders to bring peace to the region.

[ABCer]

"Hit harder!"

"Bomb all of them out of existence!"

"Assad's bloody regime!"

"Saddam is a bad man!"

"Gaddafi is a blood thirsty animal!"

"Support Iranian people against the oppressive Shach!"

"Pour water onto Arab Spring growth!"

"Give Iran money to arm and legitimise their efforts to make nukes!"

Everything and anything towards one purpose, one result only - Destabilise Middle East!

And it works! Just look at the admirable results... Bravo, US! You are the top dog in this world... Today...