Air Campaign Over Iraq and Syria Gains Turkish Support
But after nearly a year, Operation Inherent Resolve has not had a decisive effect on Islamic State
Turkey’s late entry into the air campaign against Islamic State (IS) has given the coalition valuable access to Incirlik airbase, but has added further complication, because Turkey is also conducting airstrikes against Kurdish forces in Syria, some of whom have been a key ally for the coalition against IS. Eleven other countries remain publicly committed to Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), but only six of them have approved attacks by their air forces inside Syria. Almost a year after it began, OIR has failed to dislodge IS from large areas of Iraq and Syria, despite more than 5,700 airstrikes “that have taken out thousands of fighting positions, tanks, vehicles, bomb factories and training camps,” according to U.S. President Obama.
