US policy makers don’t have a clue what their strategy is in Iraq: Analyst

The United States is engaged in “asymmetric warfare” in the Middle East and its policy makers don’t have a clue what their strategy is in Iraq, an American political analyst and activist says.

Myles Hoenig made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Saturday while commenting on a statement by US Defense Secretary Ash Carter who said on Friday that the United States does not a “combat role” in Iraq, but vowed to launch more raids against Daesh (ISIL) terrorists there.

The Pentagon said on Friday that an American soldier, Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler, was killed during an overnight special operations raid to rescue hostages held by ISIL militants in Iraq’s Kirkuk province.

Iraqi officials say that Kurdish and Iraqi forces were also involved in the rescue operation during which 69 hostages were freed from an ISIL prison located about 7 kilometers (4 miles) north of the town of Hawijah.

Carter said that the planned raids are similar to those which have produced a large cache of intelligence and freed nearly 70 people taken hostage by Daesh in Iraq.

Hoenig said that “the question of the day is whether a reported single combat mission involving ‘boots on the ground’ constitutes a change in course or more of the same.”

“Military euphemisms can be humorous if it weren’t so deadly and anti-personnel. A ‘surgical strike’ implies precision missile targeting. Does that answer why a convoy of innocent people being killed is justified when there is a single individual targeted?” he added.  

The analyst stated that “the US is involved in ‘asymmetric warfare’, where one side overwhelms the other, the other side is forced to use guerrilla tactics, and thus may violate Geneva Convention rules as non-combatants are victims. “

“However, the overwhelming military force is considered justified, even when huge numbers of civilians are the victims. We see the Israeli siege of Gaza as a prime example, as well as the US siege of Fallujah in Iraq.”

The US-led military intervention against purported Daesh positions in Iraq started in June, 2014. A similar coalition began in Syria in September.

US ground troops have rarely, if ever, participated directly in combat operations against Daesh terrorists. The US has largely limited its role to “training” and “advising” Iraqi and Kurdish forces and conducting airstrikes against ISIL.

“Most Americans, and many of its policy makers, don’t have a clue what our strategy is in Iraq. We have pulled out most of our combat troops but have still many remaining, apparently for training exercises. Are these remaining troops allowed to engage in combat operations?” Hoenig said.

“Are they considered ‘boots on the ground’? It’s easy to make fine adjustments and graduate to a full scale deployment yet still call them advisers,” he pointed out.  

“President Obama, with the support of the two parties’ establishment, is continuing its military presence in Afghanistan yet using euphemistic terms to describe its presence. The presence is to be used for continuing ‘training’ of Afghan troops but the likelihood of direct combat is assured,” Hoenig noted.

“The continuance of troops in Iraq does seem to imply that there will be boots on the ground, especially in light of its mixed and confused policies regarding ISIS [Daesh/ISIL]and Syria, and how it is being overshadowed by the military success of the Russian Federation over ISIS, as they claim,” the activist  

“Regardless of what words are used, actions define their role,” he concluded.

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