Pentagon: Effectiveness of U.S. Airstrikes Against ISIS in Northern Iraq Have Been Limited So Far

Andrew Tilgman 

Military Times, August 11, 2014 

A U.S. F/A-18 fighter jet takes off for Iraq on Aug. 11 from the flight deck of the Navy aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the Persian Gulf. U.S. military officials say American fighter aircraft struck and destroyed several vehicles Aug. 10 that were part of an Islamic State group convoy moving to attack Kurdish forces defending the northeastern Iraqi city of Irbil. Hasan Jamali/AP 

An F/A-18C Hornet coming from Iraq lands on the flight deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush on Aug. 10in the Persian Gulf. (Hasan Jamali / AP) 

U.S. F/A-18 fighter jets take off Aug. 11 for missions in Iraq from the flight deck of aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the Persian Gulf. (Hasan Jamali / AP)The Pentagon’s top war planner said the military campaign’s impact remains limited after four days of airstrikes in northern Iraq, and the Islamic militants continue to be a powerful force capable of terrorizing Iraqi civilians and seizing territory. 

“I in no way want to suggest that we have effectively contained, or that we are somehow breaking the momentum of [the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant],” said Army Lt. Gen. William Mayville, the director of operations, or “J-3” for the Joint Staff, told reporters Monday. 

“They are very well organized. They are very well equipped. They coordinate their operations and they have thus far showed the ability to attack on multiple axis. This is not insignificant,” Mayville said at a Pentagon briefing. 

Since President Obama authorized the airstrikes on Aug. 7, U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft have dropped bombs 14 times, targeting ISIS artillery positions, armored vehicles and convoys.