Operation Featherweight: Week 2, Day 4.

On Sunday (17/8/14) the Kurdish Peshmerga backed by specialists from the Iraqi army launched a ground assault to re-capture Mosul Dam from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Located on the Tigris river some 72km (45miles) north of the city of Mosul the dam sits in front of a man-made reservoir containing 11.1km^3 (2.7miles^3) of water and it's four hydroelectric turbines generate some 187MW of electricity. As such it is of huge strategic importance because whomever controls the dam also controls the electricity and water supply for most of Iraq. Also if the dam were to be destroyed it would unleash a torrent of water that would completely flood Mosul along with the Tigris' floodplain. As a result it is far more important that the dam is liberated from ISIL before the Peshmerga attempt to protect and re-take towns from ISIL. That is because defending a town of 300 people could provoke ISIL to blow the dam killing around 50,000 people and leaving millions without drinking water and electricity.  

Any mission to re-take the dam is going to be a very complicated one. Firstly the attacking force has to fight a conventional battle to defeat the defences such as artillery and mortar positions in the open areas around the dam. They then need to clear any mines that have been laid around the area before climbers and explosive ordinance disposal specialists move in to conduct a hostage rescue-type operation to clear fighters from the dam complex and remove any demolition charges. Ideally all this needs to happen very quickly because at any point the people defending the dam could destroy it rather then losing control of it.

In their effort to liberate the dam the Peshmerga have been aided by extremely limited US air-strikes. On Saturday (16/8/14) the US carried out nine air-strikes which succeeded in destroying 14 ISIL vehicles. On Sunday - with the ground assault underway - the US carried out an undisclosed number of further air-strikes against undisclosed targets which are believed to have been ISIL defensive check-points and artillery positions. Today the US is believed to have carried out yet more air-strikes although they have yet to officially confirm this let alone provide details about the number and type of targets.

Despite this the Peshmerga assault seems to have bogged down with fighting stretching into a second and possibly third day although they do seem to have been able to secure the dam structure itself. This painfully slow progress highlights exactly the problem presented by US President Obama's extremely hesitant approach to military action.

If Obama had the courage to properly authorise the Navy to take full military action they would probably have drawn up a proper attack plan. This would have involved bombing the area around the dam hard in the days leading up to the ground assault in order to soften up the target by destroying most if not all of ISIL defences. After all you can even clear a minefield by bombing it from the air. With no let up in the air-strikes the ground assault could have begun while ISIL were in disarray allowing the Peshmerga to quickly seize control of the dam. Then as ISIL were retreating from the dam further air-strikes could have been used to kill all of the 400 or so ISIL fighters who were stationed at the dam. I know this sounds harsh but it needs to be done to prevent ISIL from re-grouping and then launching a new offensive to seize the dam.

On Sunday Obama did write a letter to Congress to inform them that US forces would be taking part in the operation to retake the dam. Officially this was done because Obama felt the War Powers Resolution required him to do so. However with military action having already been authorised I can't help but feel the Obama was trying to overplay US involvement in the operation while at the same time hoping that some of the more capable members of Congress would grade his reasoning for the need to re-take the dam.

In that case I would say that it shows improvement because Obama has at least realised that the demolition of the dam would create a humanitarian disaster. However it stills fall far below a passing grade because Obama has failed to recognise the strategic importance of securing the water and electricity supplies. Also Obama strictly limited the action to Mosul Dam which suggests to me that he is still trying to excessively limit the use of military force indicating that he still hasn't understood the scale of the problem and the type of solution it requires.

Hopefully though the Peshmerga will be able to fully secure the dam in the coming hours. That is because if they were to fail to do so or even sustain heavy losses in the process it would have very dire humanitarian consequences across Iraq.

16:55 on 18/8/14 (UK date).

Edited at around 13:10 on 19/8/14 (UK date) to add;

Despite President Obama's statement yesterday the fighting around Mosul Dam is most certainly not over. The Peshmerga have succeeded in gaining control of the dam structure itself but they continue to come under heavy artillery fire from positions around 1km (0.6miles) outside of the dam.

The US has however provided details to the air-strikes it has undertaken against ISIL positions close to the dam. As previously mentioned the strikes on Saturday were purely against 14 ISIL vehicles. The strikes on Sunday concentrated on further vehicles, a defensive checkpoint and artillery/mortar positions. The strikes on Monday concentrated on further mortar/artillery positions and a minefield that had been halting the Peshmerga's advance.

In a way that last target makes me happy because it provides me with plenty of opportunity to go; "I told you so." However it does also worry me because I don't think the US military need me to explain this to them. So the fact it took them three days to carry out effective strikes really highlights just how badly their operations are being hampered by Obama's ineffectual leadership. This is a problem because in wars this type of hesitancy and confused leadership ends up getting people killed and causes small conflicts to escalate into bigger conflicts that end up sucking in more men and resources.

I must say that I really don't understand why Obama is still being so hesitant. Whatever barrier there was to taking action be it a desire not to admit that it was a mistake to withdraw from Iraq in the first place or fears of a Muslim backlash against US military action it has already been crossed. As a result there is nothing to be gained by continuing to hold back and a lot to lose so the US may as well go about the military action properly.

(Originally Posted 18/8/14 - UK date).