REUTERS/U.S. Air Force/Tech. Sgt. Effrain Lopez/Handout

Arthur Herman and William Luti, Defense One: How America’s Drones Can Defeat ISIS

Critics of airstrikes over Iraq and Syria should give credit where it’s due: US sustained drone strikes are doing the job.

As Defense Secretary Ashton Carter settles into office, a formidable challenge awaits him: eradicating the menace of the Islamic State, or ISIS, in Syria and Iraq. In his Senate confirmation hearing, Carter reiterated that he and the Obama administration hope “with our air power and other kinds of assistance, [to] inflict defeat on ISIS, and then make it a lasting defeat.”

Critics inside and outside the Pentagon have repeatedly warned that our current limited use of air power makes that goal virtually impossible to achieve. But too little credit has been given to the success of America’s drone fleet against ISIS so far, and too little has been said about the kind of sustained drone mission that is needed going forward to secure U.S. gains against ISIS.

WNU Editor: You will eventually need boots on the ground to defeat the Islamic State .... but drones have proven themselves to not only be valuable in providing intelligence and reconnaissance, but also in launching attacks. There is also the psychological component .... the enemy is aware that you are always above them.