WARS & RUMORS OF WARS

ISIS Has Captured al-Asad Air Base Where 300 U.S. Marines Could Be Trapped

We're actually getting conflicting reports on the above and it's hard to sort through all the white noise and disinformation going on out there . . . the base was overrun . . . the base was not overrun and the attack was repelled . . . the base is cut off and the adjoining town is in the hands of an ISIS army . . . it was only eight ISIS and they're all dead . . . here's what we DO know:

RECENT ACTIVITY:

In late October 2014, Ein al-Asad Airbase and surrounding region west of Anbar came under repeated attack by Islamic State militants. 50 U.S. advisers were sent to the base - which is located in the vicinity of an ISIS stronghold - to conduct a site survey for U.S. advisers to use the installation to support the Iraqi military. It now hosts 320 advisers.

During the early morning hours of 14 December 2014, U.S. Marines posted at Ein al Asad allegedly clashed with ISIS alongside the Iraqi Army and Tribal Forces. ISIS attempted to overrun the base to repel Iraqi forces from the base which at that time included about 100 U.S. advisers. According to a field commander of the Iraqi Army in Anbar province, "the U.S. force equipped with light and medium weapons and supported by an F-18, was able to inflict casualties against fighters of the ISIS organization, and forced them to retreat from the al-Dolab area, which lies 10 kilometers from Ain al-Assad base." Sheikh Mahmud Nimrawi, a prominent tribal leader in the region, stated "U.S. forces intervened because of ISIS started to come near the base, which they are stationed in so out of self-defense," adding that he welcomed the U.S. intervention, saying "which I hope will not be the last."

This was said to be the first encounter between the United States and the Islamic State, in four years. However, this claim has been stated to be "false" by The Pentagon. The airbase and surrounding region came under repeated attack by Islamic State militants in October 2014.

On January 5, 2015 The Pentagon acknowledged that ISIS has been ineffectively mortaring the base.

In February, Al Asad made news when ISIS took control over most of the nearby town of al-Baghdadi and began what a Defense Department spokeswoman called "ineffective indirect fire" against Al Asad base. On February 13, according to CBS News, "Eight suicide bombers managed to get onto Al Asad . . . but were killed by an ISF counterattack almost immediately." Further, CBS news reported that "ISIS had been regularly shelling Ain al-Assad for the past couple days, but there have been no reports of damage from the shelling or the attempted bombing on Friday."

ISIS Launches First Wave of Attacks Against al-Asad Airbase as Kirkuk Heats Up

Although the morphed definitions are poignant, a "battle" in the current engagements is a far cry from what soldiers dealt with in Vietnam, Korea, or World War II. Even still, I'm betting any of the 300 would gladly exchange places with those of us sitting in front of the fire in our armchairs . . .

Godspeed to the US Marines, any and all other US advisors, and their Iraqi counterparts, and may all the ISIS fiends die horrible deaths and burn in Hell for ten thousand years . . .

STORMBRINGER SENDS