Using Air Power To Cover A Retreat

... might require more than two jets.

The entire US strike force yesterday.

ISIS is committed to a war of extermination. The Yazidis are just the most recent group in their cross-hairs. Those who weren't executed on the spot by invading ISIS forces have been driven into the wilderness where they are threatened with death by starvation and dehydration.

Yesterday, American forces dropped a few 500 lb bombs on ISIS artillery positions and air-dropped supplies to the refugees. With the end goal being ... what?

Being as generous as I can, the best plan would be to use air power to give the Kurds a chance to counter-attack. The Yazidis would get supplies to form make shift refugee camps awaiting their return to liberated homes.

Being realistic, a pair of F-18s isn't going to strike fear into anyone. They blew up a couple of positions and then flew away. The danger was gone and ISIS could go back to business. ISIS has lost artillery pieces before and they'll lose them again. This is a war and war brings casualties. Unless the casualties are big enough to cause you to change your plans, it doesn't have much effect.

When Obama removed all US forces from Iraq and announced the removal of forces from Afghanistan, he let ISIS know he didn't have any stomach for a real fight. This isn't just a real fight, it's a genocidal campaign operating at top speed. During that F-18 strike, ISIS units were slaughtering, burning and moving on. It's a good bet that most of them didn't even know the strike had happened.

Just another day at the office for ISIS.

Update 1: Over at Breitbart.com, they're saying it was one artillery piece. 1. Awesome.  "The Pentagon revealed that two F/A-18 aircraft dropped 500-pound laser-guided bombs on a mobile artillery piece near Erbil."

Update 2: Ann Althouse quotes the President's pathetically confused speech last night. "(T)here’s no American military solution to the larger crisis in Iraq. The only lasting solution is reconciliation among Iraqi communities." It's a war of extermination and he's talking about reconciliation. That's just sad.