The US Air Strikes have opened a window of opportunity for a broader campaign that can finally take the US air strikes against the Northwest stronghold of the Islamic State. The recent success of re-taking the Mosul Dam had proved the effective coordinated strategy of air strikes important in the continuing campaign against the IS.
Military strategists are now considering using air strikes to weaken the IS’ military forces. The IS is currently eyeing the Haditha Dam in Anbar according to US intelligence.
Meanwhile, the United States received a direct threat from the IS by releasing a video of a man, specified as James Foley, a freelance reporter who went missing in Syria for two years, being beheaded by a man wearing a black dress and mask with the IS symbol on the forehead. US intelligence is still verifying the authenticity of the video.
Analysts said that the Haditha Dam air strike strategies indicate itself as a form of mission creep. The US recently announced that its involvement in securing the Mosul dam is to safeguard its US Embassy personnel in Iraq as the flood could reach Baghdad immediately. To attack IS fighters attempting to invade Haditha would mean an expansion of the original military involvement indicated by the United States.
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