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| Strikes prove disruptive, forcing Islamic State to alter tactics, U.S. commander says | Strikes prove disruptive, forcing Islamic State to alter tactics, U.S. commander says |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Weeks of U.S.-led airstrikes on Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria have weakened the militant group’s ability to move, communicate and plan attacks, a top general said Friday, but the U.S. military still does not expect that Iraqi forces will be able to retake Iraq’s second-largest city anytime soon. | Weeks of U.S.-led airstrikes on Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria have weakened the militant group’s ability to move, communicate and plan attacks, a top general said Friday, but the U.S. military still does not expect that Iraqi forces will be able to retake Iraq’s second-largest city anytime soon. |
| Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, head of U.S. Central Command, said that U.S. and allied airstrikes on militant headquarters, communications equipment and military vehicles had forced the group to alter the way it operates. | Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, head of U.S. Central Command, said that U.S. and allied airstrikes on militant headquarters, communications equipment and military vehicles had forced the group to alter the way it operates. |
| “We’re noting changes in the enemy’s behavior and tactics that reflect his diminished capability and restricted freedom of movement,” Austin told reporters at the Pentagon in his first briefing since the mission began. | “We’re noting changes in the enemy’s behavior and tactics that reflect his diminished capability and restricted freedom of movement,” Austin told reporters at the Pentagon in his first briefing since the mission began. |
| “We’re no longer seeing them move around the country in large convoys. Now they’re mostly traveling in civilian vehicles in smaller numbers,” he said. “This is hindering their ability to mass and to shift combat power.” | “We’re no longer seeing them move around the country in large convoys. Now they’re mostly traveling in civilian vehicles in smaller numbers,” he said. “This is hindering their ability to mass and to shift combat power.” |
| The strikes have also made it harder for the technology-savvy group, which has used the Internet and social media to advance its goal of establishing a caliphate across much of the Middle East, to communicate and plan, the general said. | The strikes have also made it harder for the technology-savvy group, which has used the Internet and social media to advance its goal of establishing a caliphate across much of the Middle East, to communicate and plan, the general said. |
| The number of strikes by the U.S.-led coalition on Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria increased to 533 on Friday, the Central Command said. | |
| But Austin cautioned that it would take time to decisively weaken the extremist group, which began commanding greater Western attention when it swept across northern Iraq in June and captured Mosul, the country’s second-largest city. | |
| Austin suggested that Iraq’s Shiite-led government was not likely to be able to recapture that northern city, long a seat of Sunni militant activity in Iraq, in the near future . | |
| “Mosul’s going to be probably a much bigger effort,” he said. “We’re going to need to regenerate a bit more combat power and do some more things to shape the environment a bit before we go out to Mosul. . . . Certainly, it will be an important fight and a difficult fight.” | “Mosul’s going to be probably a much bigger effort,” he said. “We’re going to need to regenerate a bit more combat power and do some more things to shape the environment a bit before we go out to Mosul. . . . Certainly, it will be an important fight and a difficult fight.” |
| While Kurdish pesh merga troops have had some success in pushing back militants in recent months, Iraq’s large Shiite army has so far struggled to retake areas under Islamic State control. | While Kurdish pesh merga troops have had some success in pushing back militants in recent months, Iraq’s large Shiite army has so far struggled to retake areas under Islamic State control. |
| The militants’ surprise capture of Mosul this summer laid bare the shortcomings of Iraqi security forces, which the United States rebuilt from scratch after President George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003. The rebuilding effort cost more than $20 billion. | |
| While President Obama has ruled out sending U.S. troops to wage a ground war against the Islamic State, U.S. officials acknowledge that airstrikes alone will not be enough to defeat the militant group, which controls a third of both Iraq and Syria. | |
| To remedy that situation, the Pentagon is preparing to provide renewed aid to troops in Iraq and to train and equip a modest number of Syrian rebels to battle the Islamic State in Syria. | To remedy that situation, the Pentagon is preparing to provide renewed aid to troops in Iraq and to train and equip a modest number of Syrian rebels to battle the Islamic State in Syria. |
| Austin also sought to play down concerns about gains by the Islamic State in Iraq’s western Anbar province, which militants have partly controlled for almost a year. | Austin also sought to play down concerns about gains by the Islamic State in Iraq’s western Anbar province, which militants have partly controlled for almost a year. |
| Some Iraqi officials worry that further militant advances in largely Sunni Anbar could foreshadow a full-scale militant assault on the capital, its international airport and the government itself. | Some Iraqi officials worry that further militant advances in largely Sunni Anbar could foreshadow a full-scale militant assault on the capital, its international airport and the government itself. |
| Austin described the security situation in Anbar, whose major cities are a short drive from Baghdad, as mixed. | Austin described the security situation in Anbar, whose major cities are a short drive from Baghdad, as mixed. |
| “We have not seen an appreciable increase of [Islamic State] forces in Anbar from what we saw in the July-August time frame,” he said. “I think what we’ll continue to see throughout is that, you know, Anbar will remain contested.” | “We have not seen an appreciable increase of [Islamic State] forces in Anbar from what we saw in the July-August time frame,” he said. “I think what we’ll continue to see throughout is that, you know, Anbar will remain contested.” |
| But defense of Anbar will depend on whether the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, a Shiite who took power in August promising to ease Iraq’s sectarian tensions, can convince Anbar’s Sunni tribesmen to take up arms against the Islamic State. | But defense of Anbar will depend on whether the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, a Shiite who took power in August promising to ease Iraq’s sectarian tensions, can convince Anbar’s Sunni tribesmen to take up arms against the Islamic State. |
| U.S. officials say they believe that Baghdad, for now, remains safe. The Iraqi government has prioritized defense of the capital, and the military has placed its best units around the city. |