U.S. operational plan for ISIL comes to light

Turkish daily Yeni Safak reached the details of the U.S.' operational plan to destroy and eradicate ISIL. The four-part plan consists of ground offensives that will be assisted by air strikes, at 22 different sites. The U.S., who will not fight with its own military combat forces, will be using the local forces in Iraq and Syria and move with the support of coalition powers.

The world power, aiming to get full support from the Kurdish and Shiite groups in Iraq, has been conducting a series of diplomatic visits between Arbil and Baghdad for the last 8 days, to convince the Sunni tribes to be involved in the mentioned plan, local sources said.

LOGISTICS LINE THROUGH SYRIA

The second strategic front of the possible war will be Syria. The U.S. has convinced the Kurdish groups, the Islamist Liwa al-Tawhid, or the al-Tawhid Brigade and opposition groups to act together with the joint operations room.

Sources stated that Washington aims for a logistics line passing through Turkey to Syria, to arm the local Syrian groups against ISIL. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a source close to the government stated that Ankara thinks that they should sustain cooperation in combatting terrorism, but different strategies should be implemented in fighting against ISIL. Turkish politicians prefer to stay distant from the war, finding the U.S.' rebel-arming strategy as hypocrite, due to Washington's avoidance in arming Syrian opposition, against Bashar al-Assad, who has been conducting state-terrorism against its own people for the last four years.

WESTERN FRONT OF THE OPERATION

According to the sources, Syria will be the Western front for the four-step U.S. operational plan. Al-Tawheed Brigades and Syrian Kurdish Popular Protection Units, or YPG, which is the armed wing of PYD, will join the ground offensives, being guided by the joint operations room. The U.S. will assist the ground operations with the war craft that will be taking off from the U.S. war ship that will be deployed in the eastern Mediterranean. The plan requires the Syrian local armed groups to move towards the regions that will be air-striked by the U.S. Five fronts are named in Syria, including the Karakozak, Sarrin, Jarablus, Menbic and Raqqa regions.

JOINT FORCES NAME: BORKAN AL-FIRAT

When the U.S. President Barack Obama declared his strategy on ISIL, a joint forces commission was established and named "Borkan al-Firat". The commission mainly consists of the rebel groups operating in southern Syria. Liwa al-Tawheed, Liwa al-Siwar al-Raqqa, Fajr a-Hurriya, People's Protection Units or YPG, Women's Protection Unit or YPJ, Saraya Jarablus, Liwa Jabhat al-Akrad, Siwar Umunaa al-Raqqa, al-Qas Brigade and Liwa al-Jehad fi Sabil Allah are some of the factions participating.

FSA DECIDED TO STAY OUT

On the other hand, Colonel Riad al-Asaad, the leader of the Free Syrian Army or FSA, said they would not join the alliance against ISIL, unless it receives assurances from the U.S. on toppling the Syrian regime.

ARBIL TO BE THE MAIN BASE

Kurdish Regional Government, or KRG will constitute the eastern front of the U.S.'s ISIL operation plan, sources said. U.S. officials stated that they will send 320 consultants to the region, in addition to the 390 they had sent prior. The Arbil Airport, with a 5.5km runway, is eligible for landing the heavy-tonnage air vehicles, which is one the main reasons that it will be a main base. Ninety-one thousand peshmerga forces will take active tasks during the operations. They will move towards ISIL from 10 different points, Shangal, Zummar, Dohuk, Talafar, Mahmour, Khourmala, Basher, Hawijah and Tuz Khurmatu, with the assistance of U.S. led airstrikes.

SHIITE GROUPS WILL ALSO JOIN

One of the unclear parts of the Obama plan is about the potential position the Shiites will have among the joint forces. There are warnings that if the paramilitary forces supported with ammunition and finance by Iran move forward through the Sunni regions, they might cause a great disaster. Due to this possibility of a sectarian crack-down, U.S. doesn't want the Shia paramilitary groups like Badr Brigades, Jash al-Mahdi and Ashab al-Haqq, involved in the process.

However, sources close to Baghdad state that Iran is putting pressure on the Defense Ministry that these three groups are in the joint forces as well. In this scenario, these forces and the Iraqi military, which lost reputation during ISIL's Mosul raid in last June, would work coordinately.

If the ISIL-targeted operation intensifies in Jalawla and Samawa, a fuse might be lit for a long-lasting civil war between Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis, security analysts say.