Since then, the United States has provided advisers to the Iraqi military in its fight with ISIS and has bombed ISIS positions. But in an interview with CNN last week, outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel raised the prospect that the United States might need to expand its involvement.
Over this weekend, ISIS again dominated headlines and TV news coverage around the world with the news that the group claims it had beheaded a second Japanese hostage, journalist Kenji Goto.
All of which raises the question: How is ISIS doing as it confronts the U.S.-led military campaign against it in both Iraq and Syria? And should the United States get more actively involved on the front lines of the fight, at least in Iraq, where the government is pushing for greater American involvement in its fight against ISIS?
U.S. officials assert the coalition has killed more than 6,000 ISIS fighters since the start of the campaign.
That’s a significant loss when you consider that ISIS currently has a core force of 9,000 to 18,000 fighters, according to U.S. intelligence estimates. U.S. officials also estimate that ISIS can also draw on manpower from other militant groups to bulk up to a force of around 30,000.
Gen, Lloyd Austin, the commander of U.S. Central Command who oversees the campaign against ISIS, said last week that as a result of the campaign of airstrikes the group is developing a “manpower issue.”
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Winning Mosul back from ISIS will be much more likely if the there are American air controllers calling in close air support strikes against ISIS positions and U.S. Special Forces working side by side with Iraqi units.
Of course, there are risks associated with this. U.S. troops may be killed or injured, but there are also risks associated with the fact that the longer ISIS controls vast swaths of the Middle East, more and more foreign fighters will pour in from Western countries for training with the group and some will seek to bring their skills home to attack the West.
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