WASHINGTON (AP) — The commando force that US President Barack Obama is dispatching to Iraq to conduct clandestine raids against the Islamic State group does not fit neatly into a picture of the US military strategy for defeating the extremist army.
Even the name — “specialized expeditionary targeting force” — is a bit of a riddle.
The main point is that the force is intended
to ratchet up pressure on Islamic State militants by using a small group
of special operations troops — possibly fewer than 100 — to more
aggressively use intelligence information, including capturing and
killing the group’s leaders. In theory, this would generate even more
and better intelligence, feeding what the military calls a “virtuous
cycle” of intelligence-driven air and ground operations. (READ MORE)
