Here, at night in the heart of the caliphate, the only sound was the laughing of the ISIS fighters lounging about in the safety of their capital. The screams that had pierced the air when the jihadis had captured the Syrian city of Raqqa on the northern bank of the Euphrates were gone; those infidels who had not been butchered had fled.
But there was a rumble in the sky, but not like from one of the few American jets that would occasionally drop a bomb and then depart. No, this was deeper and more distant. The jihadis stopped talking to listen, puzzled. Then they and their world were torn apart.
The first wave of 12 B-52H’s emptied their bays of 750-pound dumb bombs directly over the heart of Raqqa, followed by a second wave, then a third. Crack Air Force ground crews were waiting back at the base in Saudi Arabia, and rearmament took less than two hours. Then they headed north again. In 24 hours, Raqqa ceased to exist.
One Month Earlier
“And those are our proposed courses of action, Mr. President,” concluded the CENTCOM commander.
“When I was elected, I told you I wanted to be briefed on your plan to utterly destroy ISIS, General,” the President said. He was young and usually quite calm, but as a Cuban-American son of immigrants, he understood tyranny and knew how to deal with it. “General, what you gave me are timid half-measures that don’t begin to meet the intent I expressed to you. Now, I may not have served myself, but I understand the old game of manipulating civilian leadership by providing just the options you want instead of the ones the commander-in-chief requested. You’re relieved of command, General. Fired. Agents, show the general out.”
He turned to his chief of staff. “Get the Wildman on the line.” As the Secret Service agents bum rushed the stunned four star out of the Oval Office, the President took the phone.
On a Florida golf course, the secure cell phone of the retired Marine everyone called “The Wildman” rang, ruining his putt. The Wildman was a legend for his aggression, hence his nickname. President Obama had naturally felt it necessary to replace him with a more pliable, passive CENTCOM commander. He answered, then listened.
“General, this is the President. We need you. I am ordering you off the retired list and back to active duty as CENTCOM commander, effective immediately. I want to see your plan for the total destruction of ISIS in 72 hours. Your rules of engagement are simple. Wipe them out.”
Only an infantryman would write like that.
My only complaint: he writes that logistics types would work 22 hour days. idk what's happened to the army since I left. In my day, the infantry logisticians worked 26-30 hour days, with 1 or 2 hours sleep in place, then repeat.
As I said a few months ago, we could have put 1 American Armored Division in Kurdish land, and faced it north towards Russia and Crimea. At the same time, put 1 Ranger battalion, and 1 pissed-off NG division with no ROE in western Ukraine and Poland. Problem solved.
This is a lot like what I've been advocating since ISIS became an issue in 2013. Nice to know I'm not alone in believing this is the way to go.
Posted by: Jimmy J. at November 17, 2015 4:33 PMWhen do we saddle up?
Posted by: I.C.Nielsen at November 17, 2015 5:08 PMYeah - we're all going to need our running shoes when WW III starts.
Posted by: Casey Klahn at November 18, 2015 5:30 AM"On Nov. 17, Russia sent nearly 40 heavy bombers and escorting fighter jets on a massive air raid in Syria."
Link http://warisboring.com/articles/russian-heavy-bombers-fly-huge-raid-in-syria/
Smokin' rockets, commander. TU-160 carries 40 tons of bombs at Mach 2. Add a sky full of cruise missiles and fighters.
The Russians don't dink around like Pajama Boy.
The WWII B17 carried 4,500 lbs of bombs on long range missions. 2.25 tons.
40 Russian bombers carrying, say, 35 tons each is 1400 tons total, divided by 2.25 is 622.
So 40 Russian bombers is the equivalent of a 600+ B17 raid.
B52 carries 35 tons.
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