Derisively chided last month as "The Coalition of the Wilting," Barack Obama's much hoped for "broad coalition" in his deployment of American troops to fight ISIS terrorists in both Syria and Iraq may have picked up a few more members, but the heavy lifting is still being done overwhelmingly by the American fighting forces. As reported by the Breitbart.com news portal on Oct. 7, 2014, our European and Arab allies are contributing a mere 10 percent of the airstrikes against the al-Qaeda allied terrorists.
Since the initial airstrike on Aug. 8, 2014, nearly 2,000 strikes have been launched against the Islamic Jihadists, but nearly 1,800 of said strikes have been conducted by fighter/attack jets of our Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force. Adding to the American air power was the U.S. Army deploying AH-64 Apaches attack helos into the mix, as reported by The Washington Post on Oct. 6, 2014.
While France, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Australia have each thrown in their lot against ISIS, they've made it clear that their jets will only hit ISIS in Iraq, while any of their aircraft flying into Syrian airspace is strictly verboten. While the Arab nations of Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are participating in strikes within the on-paper borders of Iraq, they've been mum on any hits against ISIS-controlled areas of Syria.
While Obama has repeatedly assured the American people that he wouldn't order any U.S. "boots on the ground," the New York Times has already reported that 1,600 American "advisers" are already in-country. However, Buzzfeed.com has cited the former Central Intelligence and National Security Agency chief Michael Hayden stating "he believes the United States will have three to five thousand American troops in Iraq by Christmas." To date, none of America's alleged allies have committed themselves to contributing ground troops in the region to fight ISIS.
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