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Good at Starting Wars, Bad at Winning Them: US Losing War Against ISIL

© REUTERS / U.S. Air Force/Senior Airman Matthew Bruch/HandoutUS Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles are designed to conduct airstrikes in Syria and Iraq
US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles are designed to conduct airstrikes in Syria and Iraq - Sputnik International
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It’s been a year since the United States along with a bunch of other countries launched a military campaign against ISIL in Syria and Iraq. Quite frankly, the result of the US-led military operation is not impressive and very cost-ineffective, Le Huffington Post reported.

The United States, a world superpower that represents 37 percent of all global military spending, can't even defeat an organization with a few dozens of thousands of fighters, armed predominantly with light equipment.

The US Department of Defense revealed that the anti-ISIL military operation cost $3.5 billion over the period of one year, with the airstrike campaign representing 75 percent of all total expenses. Over $10 million is spent every day, of which half is devoted to the cost of flights only. To hit a single ISIL target it costs $300,000 and to kill a single enemy soldier it costs $175,000, Le Huffington Post said.

The problem for the US military is that regardless of how many targets their airstrikes destroy or terrorists they kill, ISIL keeps increasing its fighters through effective recruitment. In fact, military experts believe that right now ISIL has more active fighters in service than last August, when the anti-ISIL campaign started.

a fighter jet flies over northern Iraq after conducting airstrikes in Syria against Islamic State group targets in Syria - Sputnik International
More Blood Will Help: US Official Suggests His Recipe for War Against ISIL
Last month, US Army General Joseph Votel, the head of the Special Operations Command (SOCOM), said that the US war against ISIL could take 50 years. According to the US General, as soon as ISIL is blocked in one area, terrorists turn their attention to other areas.

"I don't believe there's any one strategy that we are going to apply that is immediately going to change this. It's going to take a long-term approach," Gen. Votel said.

Now the US military command is reportedly considering to send US ground troops to Iraq with local security forces if no progress made in the anti-ISIL campaign in the next few months.

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