CENTCOM Commander Gen. McKenzie visits Iraq to try to mend relations

(February 5) General Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie, Centom Commander, made a quiet visit to Iraq on Tuesday. Multiple media reports claim that McKenzie "slipped" into Iraq in an attempt to mend ties during what he called a period of "turbulence" between the two countries.

Assassination by the US near Baghdad airport caused protests against the US

On January 3 the US carried out a drone attack near the Baghdad airport that killed a top Iranian general Qassem Soleiman as well as Iraqi General Abu al-Muhandis a deputy commander of the government approved and financed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMC).

Iraqis were furious. The Iraqi parliament passed a resolution 170 to 0 demanding that all foreign troops be withdrawn from Iraq. The resolution however was not binding and some Sunnis stayed away from the session. The Iraqi government did not give permission for the US attack and were not even informed. No doubt, most Iraqis saw the attack as a clear violation of their sovereignty.

Iran retaliated by missile attacks on two US bases in Iraq. There was considerable damage. While no one was reported killed as of last reporting there were 64 cases of concussion caused by blasts. There have also been attacks on US Iraq bases by Iraqi militia that are pro-Iran.

McKenzie's visit

McKenzie is the most senior US military official to visit Iraq since the US drone assassinations. The US has made it clear that it has no intention of leaving Iraq at the present. The US is supposed to be in the country to help fight ISIS but ISIS has lost all the territory it has held and is more or less in survival mode. The Iraqis probably have the ability to deal with any threat that remains on their own. However, the US worries about Iranian influence in Iraq and would like to stay to counteract that influence as much as possible.

McKenzie said he believes there will be a "way forward", presumably one that involves few or no US troop withdrawals. The Pentagon has not been forthcoming about who exactly McKenzie had talks with but did say that McKenzie was personally heartened by the reaction he had received. McKenzie also asked Iraq for permission to install Patriot missiles as US bases do not have sufficient defenses against Iranian missiles.

At least one news report does indicate some of those who spoke with McKenzie: "McKenzie said it’s difficult to predict how Tuesday’s discussions will pan out, particularly because the government is in transition. McKenzie spoke with Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, President Barham Saleh, and Speaker of the House Salim al-Jabouri, but he did not speak with Mohammed Allawi, who is expected to succeed the current prime minister."

Protesters have been demanding a new independent policy that is not determined by the US or Iran. However, the US assassination may have directed much of protesters' anger against the US. The US has refused to discuss any withdrawal mechanism with the Iraqi government even though the Iraqi government asked it to do so.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

US-trained Syrian rebels hand over weapons to Al Qaeda group

Around 70 new graduates of the U.S. training program that produces trained rebels to fight the Islamic State in Syria handed over their weapons and equipment to the Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in exchange for safe passage.

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The report comes from the Telegraph. The paper claims a number of sources reported that the fighters associated with Divison 30, the division of "moderate rebels," had surrendered and handed over weapons and equipment to Al-Nusra Front. A Twitter boast of the surrender came from Abu Fahd al-Tunisi, who claimed to be from the Nusra Front:"A strong slap for America... the new group from Division 30 that entered yesterday hands over all of its weapons to Jabhat al-Nusra after being granted safe passage. They handed over a very large amount of ammunition and medium weaponry and a number of pick-ups."

Another purported Al-Nusra member, Abu al-Maqdisi, claimed the Division 30 commander, Anas Ibrahim Obaid, said he had tricked the coalition because he needed weapons. Al-Maqdisi tweeted: "He promised to issue a statement... repudiating Division 30, the coalition, and those who trained him. And he also gave a large amount of weapons to Jabhat al-Nusra."

Several sources put the number of U.S.-trained fighters entering Syria as 75, including the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Middle East Eye also reported on the incident. CENTCOM issued a statement saying that about 70 graduates of the Syria Train and Equip program had re-entered Syria with their weapons and equipment and were operating as New Syrian Forces(NSF) alongside other rebels fighting the Islamic State.

An earlier group of U.S.-trained fighters had been attacked by Al-Nusra and their base over-run. Their commander was kidnapped. Recently the head of CENTCOM, General Lloyd Austin III, claimed that there were only four or five U.S.-trained fighters left in Syria.

US general claims less than half dozen US-trained rebels remain in Syria

Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the head of CENTCOM and the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, said there were only four or five Syrian rebels trained by the U.S. military still in the fight against the Islamic State in Syria.

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General Austin also said the U.S. would not reach its goal of training 5,000 Syrian fighters in the near future. In effect, Austin's testimony before the U.S. Armed Services Committee showed that the Defense Department $500 million program was going nowhere.

Republican Senator John McCain, chair of the committee, wanted to know why the U.S. had not set up a no-fly zone over Syria to help protect civilians from being bombed by the Assad government. Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill said that despite all the talk from US military officials about how well the war was progressing there seemed no recognition of the "practical realities". Intelligence agents have complained that their negative reports on the war against the Islamic State are being altered by superiors.

The Defense Department had announced last May that they intended to train up to 5,400 fighters each year in a strategy designed to combine US bombing with proxy local troops on the ground against the Islamic State. The U.S. has been reluctant to send American troops against the Islamic State, although there are no doubt some special forces operating in secret in Syria. The problem for the U.S. is that the rebels are interested primarily in fighting against Assad and not the Islamic State. Many are particularly incensed at the U.S. bombing of the Al-Qaeda-linked Al Nusra Front. In some areas the Front is a key player in attacking Assad. The Front has retaliated by successfully attacking U.S.-trained rebels and seizing their weapons.

The U.S.-trained rebels called the New Syrian Force(NSF) began with only 54 with all but four or five either having been killed or fleeing, according to General Austin. Present classes in training are about 100 to 120 fighters, nowhere near the over-5,000 target. In spite of the fact that the Pentagon repeatedly praises and promotes the program, General Austin said it was reviewing it.

Recent reports indicate the Obama administration is finally planning a major overhaul of its strategy. The new plan will see the U.S.-trained rebels embedded with Kurdish and Arab forces in northeastern Syria. The rebels would be trained to use U.S. communications equipment, enabling them to provide intelligence and designate targets for U.S. bombing. The numbers to be trained are being scaled back to around 500 per year, just one tenth of the original plans.

US intelligence analysts complain that negative reports altered by superiors

Washington - Dozens of US Central Command (CENTCOM) and Defense Intelligence Agency analysts have complained that their superiors suppressed negative assessments they had made on the year-long fight against the Islamic State. An early report by the Daily Beast said: More than 50 intelligence analysts working out of the U.S. military’s Central Command have formally complained that their reports on ISIS and al Qaeda’s branch in Syria were being inappropriately altered by senior officials, As a result of the complaints the Pentagon inspector general opened an investigation into the issue. In July two senior analysts signed a written complaint that their reports had been changed by CENTCOM higher officials to conform with the Obama administration's line that the US was winning the battle against the Islamic State and Al Nusra the Al Qaeda-linked group in Syria. The reports were altered to make both groups appear weaker than they are according to their intelligence.

This type of manipulation of intelligence is not new. In 2002 and 2003 in Iraq, senior US officials deliberately "cherry picked" intelligence on Hussein's alleged weapons program. The US House of Representatives investigative committee now wants in on the investigation and has asked Pentagon officials for a briefing on the analysts' charges. As the Guardian reports: Jason Chaffetz, the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Ron DeSantis, who chairs its national-security subcommittee, asked the defense secretary, Ashton Carter, and inspector general, Jon Rymer, on Friday for information about an ongoing investigation into charges from dozens of US Central Command and Defense Intelligence Agency analysts that their superiors suppressed negative assessments of the year-old war against Isis. The lawmakers want briefings no later than the 18th of this month. Both Chaffetz and DeSantis, the latter a retired naval officer and Iraq veteran, expressed deep concern about the allegations and wanted to make certain that any intelligence provided to key decision makers should reflect the analysis of experts in the intelligence community. The two warned Carter and Rymer that they were "troubled" to find out that acrimony within CENTCOM was causing some analysts simply to leave their positions.

Analysts in CENTCOM say that Army Major General Steven Grove and deputy Greg Ryckman, revise, suppress or even reject analysts' negative assessments of the war's progress or evaluations that show IS to still be quite strong. Grove faces almost daily questioning by the top US intelligence official, James Clapper. Sources told the Guardian that the suppression began as long ago as October 2014 just two months after the air war began against the Islamic State. Similar concerns are surfacing within the Defense Intelligence Agency which provides intelligence analyses for both military commanders and civilian leaders.

 The former director of the Defence Intelligence Agency, Lt. General Michael Flynn, perhaps summed the situation up: "The phrase I use is the politicization of the intelligence community." Flynn said he was not surprised by the investigation and noted that Obama administration officials had often been too optimistic in assessing the situation with respect to the battle against the Islamic state.

Third casualty of Operation Inherent Resolve is US pilot

Late Sunday a U.S. pilot was killed as his plane attempted to return to an airbase following "maintenance problems" immediately after takeoff. The death is the first involving a fixed-wing aircraft, an F-16, since the campaign began.

The campaign now named Operation Inherent Resolve began on August 8 and involves air attacks against IS positions in both Iraq and Syria but also attacked the Khorasan in Syria that is part of Jabha al-Nusra a group linked to Al Qaeda. At first the campaign had no name while other partners had already named their operations. The UK operation was called Operation Shader. The French named theirs Operation Chammal. Canada had Operation Impact, and finally Australia Operation Okra. There was considerable criticism of the US which usually gives operations euphemistic, propaganda-laden names such as Operation Enduring Freedom.
 The Wall Street Journal blogs asked for name suggestions. Some were quite interesting One contributor suggested Operation Tentative Ambivalence. Joe Messina suggests a title with far too many "likes": A Warlike Act on Terrorlike Acts by Soldierlike people. Another contributor suggested a much shorter and quite appropriate title: No Boots. Finally there was a clever contribution involving puns. Since puns are not allowed in China no doubt the title was rejected because it could not be used by Chinese media: Operation Ice IS. CENTCOM ignored all these fine suggestions for titles and on October 15th came up with the name Operation Inherent Resolve that expressed the usual high-minded noble attitudes of the US toward their missions in other words it is replete with inflated high-minded rhetoric extolling the inherent goodness of a mission against evil: According to CENTCOM officials, the name INHERENT RESOLVE is intended to reflect the unwavering resolve and deep commitment of the U.S. and partner nations in the region and around the globe to eliminate the terrorist group ISIL and the threat they pose to Iraq, the region and the wider international community. It also symbolizes the willingness and dedication of coalition members to work closely with our friends in the region and apply all available dimensions of national power necessary - diplomatic, informational, military, economic - to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL.
Perhaps the UN needs Operation Feed the Displaced to gather funds to feed the millions that have been displaced by the civil war in Syria. The UN find themselves running out of funds from donors who seem to lack any inherent resolve to contribute the funds necessary to help solve this humanitarian disaster. Now back to the story after the editorial.
 The F-16 that crashed took off from an unidentified air base. However, the US is using airbases at al-Udeid in Qatar and al-Dhafra in the UAE to support Operation Inherent Resolve. The cause of the incident is still being investigated. This is not the first casualty in the Operation Inherent Resolve. On Oct. 1 an MV-22 Osprey lost power shortly after takeoff from the USS Makin Island. Two marines bailed out. One was rescued but Marine Cpl. Jordan Spears was never found. The pilot stayed with the Osprey, regained control and landed safely. Spears' death was reclassified after the operation was named so that he is now listed as having died in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. Just ten days after this event, Lance Corporal Sean Neal, just 19 died in a "non-combat related incident" in the Iraq capital Baghdad.
Given the limited number of personnel on the ground in Iraq, there are unlikely to be many casualties during the Operation Inherent Resolve.The US administration has resolved so far not to risk negative political fallout from having boots on the ground in combat with resulting casualties.