We expressed the opinion long ago (and at every opportunity since) that having been sponsored and mentored by NATO, Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Muslim Arab states, ISIS had become a monster that nobody could control (not that the Saudis and their Sunni allies wanted to control the terror group). A fighting force such as ISIS cannot be beaten by conventional warfare tactics, they are not a state or even a tribal grouping that has homeland territory to defend, nor are they a crusade with the goal of liberating an oppressed minority or liberating an occupied territory. They are an ideologically driven group and this gives them the advantage of geographic and organisational fluidity.
Unfortunately though all this has been common knowledge and the difficulties of beating a guerilla force have been documented since Boudicca gave Roman Legions the runaround until more tactically naive, testicularly driven allies persuaded her to face Rome's well organised standing army in conventional battle and the Roman phalanxes butchered the Britons, our leaders seem unable to learn from history.
Once Russia and Iran started to engage ISIS forces in Syria the terrorists did what irregulars should always do, they shifted the focus of their operation. While western media gleefully reported that 'thousands of ISIS fighters are deserting' under the rain or firecrackers Obama's air strikes were dropping on them (nothing to do with Russia's bombs or Iran's republican Guard of course), in fact the extremists were heading for Libya.
Our reports of US, French and British troops on the ground in have been online here for a while now, click the headlines below to find out who and where:
UK Troops Set To Join Forces From USA and France In Libya
1,000 British elite troops deployed to Libyan oil fields to ‘halt the advance of ISIS’
Libya, showing oilfield infrastucture (click through for larger image from Oilprice.com)
In mid-December, the United Nations brokered a power-sharing agreement between Libya’s rival factions, but there is no chance of implementing this, you can't broker deals between gangsters and terrorists and expect them to succeed. That means there is no chance of Libyan government halting the advance of ISIS.
Things are getting very messy there, U.S. air strikes will put only a small dent in a big problem and all in all it is starting to look like another Syria is brewing in the Sahara..
According to U.S. intelligence figures, there are an estimated 6,000 ISIS fighters now in Libya, headquartered in the town of Sirte, as Oilprice.com has reported in the past. From here, they control hundreds of miles of coastline. There is nothing in Sirte they want; this is simply a strategic base.
Other reports say the terrorists are centred on Benghazi. Hat Tip from ISIS to Hillary Clinton for allowing Islamic Extremists to neutralise the west's last toe hold in eastern Libya. It is not just oil that attacts ISIS to Libya of course. Having lost many men to Assad's fairly well organised military they must like the total lack of effective government. And the European migrant crisis of last year has established Libyan seaports as the embarcation point of choice for jihadists en route to Europe. Another plus is a strong position in Libya opens the door to Africa via some of the weakest and most chaotic African states. Only third is to get their thieving mitts on more oil revenues to fill quickly depleting coffers in Syria and northern Iraq.
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