Turkish Airstrikes Pose Danger to U.S. Forces, Strategy
Fox News looks at the rocky start to the U.S. and Turkey’s joint effort to combat ISIL.
“With only 10 minutes notice to their American partners, Turkey launched a massive air strike of its own July 24 against a Kurdish militant group in the northern mountains of Iraq. The U.S. had barely enough warning to make sure its own forces were out of the way… In addition to targeting forces engaged in the fight against ISIS, U.S. officials believed the Turkish military’s sudden move raised the risk of friendly-fire casualties.”
“‘We had U.S. Special Forces not far from where the Turks were bombing, training Kurdish Peshmerga fighters,’ the source said. ‘We had no idea who the Turkish fighters were, their call signs, what frequencies they were using, their altitude or what they were squawking [to identify the jets on radar].'”