National Defense Briefs – June 2, 2015

By W. Thomas Smith Jr.

NATIONAL DEFENSE BRIEFS is a series aimed at informing readers with timely military and homeland security news updates, trends, definitions, and short commentaries. Defense issues are inextricably connected to business. In that, MidlandsBiz.com presents the “National Defense Briefs” that matter.

• Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said this week that “hundreds of crack foreign fighters had flooded into Iraq in recent weeks to join ISIS,” as reported in Time. Abadi said, “They have brought hundreds of new fighters, well-trained, well-armed, very good networking. … We are trying very hard on our part, but this is a transnational organization. It needs all the intelligence of the world, and we are not getting much.”

• In May, ISIS handily defeated Iraqi forces and seized the Iraqi town of Ramadi near Fallujah in Anbar Province. U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter blamed the defeat on ineffective” Iraqi soldiers, saying they had “no will to fight.” Time reports, 2,200 U.S. military personnel are supporting the Iraqi army, and the U.S. has provided the Iraqis with $500-million in weapons, equipment, and ammunition.

• As of this writing [June 2, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern], ISIS is approximately 70 miles from Baghdad. Meanwhile, U.S., European, and Middle Eastern officials are gathering in Paris to discuss how to defeat ISIS, which has made substantial gains in Iraq and Syria in recent weeks.

• As we have reported, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (also ISIS), the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and the Islamic State (IS). Many Arab-speaking people refer to ISIS as Daesh, an acronym for Al Dawla al-Islamiya al-Iraq al-Sham (the Arabic translation of the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham).

• Lt. Col. (P) Bill Connor, a U.S. Army Reserve Infantry officer (Ranger) and former senior U.S. military advisor in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, says, “Accompanying indigenous forces with access to overwhelming airpower is the key to winning. In the first months of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, a few hundred special-operations advisers with access to devastating airpower helped the beleaguered Northern Alliance drive the Taliban from power. The Taliban were not only an Islamist military, but governed Afghanistan similar to the Islamic State which now governs huge swaths of Syria and Iraq. Until the U.S. advisory effort became embedded with the Northern Alliance, the war appeared to be at a stalemate. The difference came with the confidence and firepower brought to bear with the advisers.” [Read – http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/embedded-advisors-are-key-to-winning-against-the-islamic-state]

• Marine Recon and MARSOC Marines – both key elements within the broader special operations and intelligence-gathering communities – are different operating entities within the Marine Corps infantry combat sphere. Recon (short for reconnaissance) was established decades ago. MARSOC (an acronym for Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command) was established in 2006. Since its inception, MARSOC has drawn on the Marine Recon community to flesh out its companies. Recon, as a result, has reportedly suffered from dwindling numbers of qualified leathernecks. [Read – http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story/military/2015/06/01/marine-corps-reconnaissance-new-branding-recruiting-campaign/28094363/]

• According to Business Insider, “China’s rapid claim on contested islands in the South China Sea is beyond anything seen previously and raises legitimate questions about Beijing’s intentions in the region, the secretary of the Australian defence department, Dennis Richardson, said.” [Read – http://www.businessinsider.com/australia-chinas-military-buildup-in-the-south-china-sea-is-beyond-anything-previously-seen-2015-6]

– W. Thomas Smith Jr. – a former U.S. Marine rifleman – is a military analyst and partner with NATIONAL DEFENSE CONSULTANTS, LLC. Visit him at http://uswriter.com.