THE NEWEST CHAPTER IN COUNTERINSURGENCY OPERATIONS: DEFEATING THE ISLAMIC STATE OF IRAQ AND THE LEVANT EXPLORING HOW TO SUCCEED IN LIGHT OF RECENT COUNTERINSURGENCY OPERATIONS THAT YIELDED LIMITED OR NO SUCCESS
Abstract
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has become a serious problem in Iraq and Syria. The radical terrorist group is growing rapidly and causing great instability in the Middle East to which the United States has become heavily involved. The United States has been involved in counterinsurgency operations for the last fifteen years but saw limited and temporal success in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. The purpose of this paper is to examine what the United States needs to change about their current strategy in order to permanently defeat ISIL. It follows the problem/solution methodology in order to examine relevant background information, identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current U.S. strategy, and present recommendations. The key findings of the analysis include: air power alone cannot win the war; the current security force training plan is not progressing fast enough, and U.S. weapons allocation needs adjustment. This paper offers four major recommendations: an increase to close air support forces, direct weapons support to the Kurds, increasing the security force training rate, and seeking neighboring coalition ground force support. The key to counterinsurgency is producing a stable and secure environment which starts strong security presence.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2015
- Accession Number
- AD1040636
Entities
People
- Gabriel A. Lewis
Organizations
- Air Command and Staff College