Pentagon ready to strike IS in Syria
Pentagon officials announced that plans and target lists are ready for airstrikes against the self-proclaimed "Islamic State" (IS) forces inside Syria, and are only awaiting orders from President Barack Obama.
A VNA correspondent in Washington quoted US military officials speaking to the press on September 19 as saying that over the past few weeks, US intelligence and military officials have been actively discussing plans and completing a list of targets to prepare for launching an airstrike campaign against IS militants inside Syria. Assessments of the risk level of the airstrikes, along with a list of IS targets inside Syria, will be submitted to the White House as soon as possible for President Obama to approve and pave the way for the Pentagon to conduct airstrikes at the appropriate time.
Speaking at a hearing on September 18 before the House Armed Services Committee, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said that he and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, had co-signed a plan to attack IS in Syria to be sent to the White House. This week, Commander of the Central Command (CENTCOM), General Lloyd Austin, also directly presented to President Obama the plan to strike IS targets in Syria, including command posts, logistics centers and infrastructure.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Obama is still reviewing the plan and has not signed a decision to authorize any expanded airstrikes on Syrian territory. Currently, US spy planes are continuing to conduct reconnaissance flights over Syria to identify additional targets, especially the location of the IS group's leadership.
On September 18, speaking on television, former US President Bill Clinton admitted that the US military could not win a ground war against IS militants in Iraq and Syria. According to him, a new government in Iraq established with the full cooperation of Sunni Muslim tribal leaders would be the decisive force in the ground war against IS. Mr. Clinton expressed his support and said that the anti-IS strategy that President Obama had just announced "has a chance of winning".
The above information was released in the context of the US Central Command announcing that on September 18, US bombers had for the first time attacked an IS training camp in the southeast of Mosul city and an ammunition depot of this group in the southeast of Baghdad capital, destroying two buildings occupied by this group, an armed vehicle and an infantry unit of 40 gunmen. According to statistics, since the launch of the air campaign on August 8, US aircraft have conducted a total of 176 airstrikes on IS targets inside Iraq.
According to QĐND
