Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend has some tough words for you.
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In addition, the top USA commander said that the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia) would be destroyed already in 2017, although he admitted that such plans may seem too ambitious, CNN says. Iraq President Haider al-Abadi has predicted that Mosul would be taken back by the end of this year.
A USA military commander warned President Bashar al-Assad’s forces “we will defend ourselves” after Syrian warplanes bombed near an American special forces’ base.
“We always have the right to defend our forces”, said Cook, when asked whether or not the USA would consider shooting down Russian or Syrian aircraft that threaten USA forces.
We’ve informed the Russians where we’re at. Twice last week, Syria aircraft flew in a part of northeastern Syria where USA forces are advising local anti-IS forces, prompting US warnings. The danger from the attack required US forces to be hastily moved out of the area.
Army Gen. Joseph Votel, the commander of U.S. Central Command who attended the change of command ceremony, praised MacFarland’s contributions to the anti-ISIS campaign.
Townsend, who took command on Sunday, says he will accelerate military operations in Iraq, and expand the training and equipping of Iraqi forces. When that transition takes place, the US will switch up tactics to crush the insurgency.
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Once Mosul and Raqqa are in the bag, Townsend thinks what’s left of ISIS will “have to crawl into holes and little villages int he desert and hide” at which point the terror group will transform into an insurgency. “But right now, my focus is on destroying the physical caliphate”.
