Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Hercules. Flickr/Sergey Melkonov. Some rights reserved.Much of the western media has in the past week focused on military successes in the war against ISIS, principally the Syrian army's retaking of Palmyra and the Iraqi army's impending assault on Mosul. Now, two developments add a broader perspective.
First, the Iraqi move towards Mosul is proving more difficult than expected, with units experiencing unexpected opposition in villages on the approach to the city. Second, one of the United States's 'forward fire bases' (FFBs), set up to assist artillery support for Iraqi forces, has itself come under direct attack by ISIS paramilitaries. Fire Base Bell, established in northern Iraq by the Twenty-Sixth Marine Expeditionary Unit, lost one marine, while others were injured. The base has now been "quietly renamed" by the Pentagon, with no public announcement.
These developments indicate three things. Despite the heavy losses inflicted on ISIS by the many hundreds of coalition air-attacks, the group remains resilient. Air-power alone cannot defeat ISIS, yet the limited ground forces now deployed are also vulnerable. And as western governments are determined to avoid thousands of 'boots on the ground', the use of special forces is well nigh certain to increase.
