US to “Annihilate” Islamic State Caliphate, Civilian Casualties a “Fact of Life”, by Mike “Mish” Shedlock

This is definitely a change in US military strategy regarding ISIS. From Mike “Mish” Shedlock at mishtalk.com:

US Defense Secretary James Mattis announced plans on Sunday to ‘Take Apart’ Islamic State Caliphate. Civilian casualties do not matter one bit.

The fight against Islamic State has shifted to “annihilation tactics” to stop potential terrorists who’ve flocked to places such as Iraq and Syria from returning to their home countries to wreak havoc, Defense Secretary James Mattis said Sunday.

“We have already shifted from attrition tactics where we shove them from one position to another in Iraq and Syria,” Mattis said on “Face the Nation” on CBS. “Our intention is that the foreign fighters do not survive the fight to return home to North Africa, to Europe, to America, to Asia, to Africa.”

“We are going to squash the enemy’s ability to give some indication that they’re — that they have invulnerability, that they can exist, that they can send people off to Istanbul, to Belgium, to Great Britain and kill people with impunity,” Mattis said.

Asked about the potential for greater civilian casualties from the stepped-up attacks, Mattis said such losses “are a fact of life.”

“The bottom line is we are going to accelerate the campaign against ISIS,” he said. “It is a threat to all civilized nations. And the bottom line is we are going to move in an accelerated and reinforced manner, throw them on their back foot.”

He said the U.S. plans to “strip them of any kind of legitimacy” and deny any country from providing Islamic State with any degree of protection as well as dry up the group’s fundraising.

Civilian Pay Price

To continue reading: Caliphate, Civilian Casualties a “Fact of Life”