http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/even-amid-paris-carnage-u.s.-ties-own-hands-in-isis-fight/article/2576488?utm_source=hootsuiteEven amid Paris carnage, U.S. ties own hands in ISIS fight
By Byron York (@ByronYork) • 11/16/15 6:49 PM
At about the same time President Obama began a long, defensive appearance before reporters questioning his handling of the war against the Islamic State, the Pentagon announced Monday that American warplanes had struck a group of Islamic State trucks involved in the oil-smuggling business that brings the terrorist organization hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
The strike, near Abu Kamal, in Syria, destroyed 116 fuel trucks out of nearly 300 massed in the area, according to the Pentagon. While U.S. forces engaged in the anti-Islamic State fight, Operation Inherent Resolve, have sometimes hit the Islamic State oil trucks before, Monday's strike was "the first time that we've hit so many at once," a coalition spokesman told AFP.
Obama announced the U.S. campaign against the Islamic State on Sept. 10, 2014, pledging to "redouble our efforts to cut off [Islamic State] funding." Given that the oil-stealing business is the terrorist group's financial lifeblood, why has it taken until now to hit the Islamic State's oil transport capability in a significant way?
The answer, apparently, is that Obama was worried about civilian casualties. What if even one civilian driving an Islamic State truck, or near a truck, was killed in a U.S. attack? That concern, apparently, was enough to stop American forces from attacking a critical part of the Islamic State's support system.
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