Countering vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attacks in Mosul.
Iraqi and Syrian partners would not have been able to retake territory from ISIS without coalition airpower, which provided essential intelligence and precision strikes and bolstered partner troops' confidence and motivation against a fearsome enemy.
Strategic air strikes then weakened ISIS finances by targeting the group's cash reserves and oil business. For example, airpower halted ISIS's 2014 offensive, notably saving Baghdad, Erbil, and Kobani. military and its coalition partners-29 countries that contributed military support-instead played a supporting role, primarily contributing critical airpower to combat operations. In OIR, the United States adopted a “limited liability, limited risk” strategy to defeat ISIS that called for Iraqi and Syrian partner ground operations to provide the central effort. How Airpower Was Critical to Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) How could the United States halt ISIS's momentum and then defeat an organization that controlled large parts of territory in Iraq and Syria without committing a large number of ground forces? The answer quickly became clear: airpower.
However, the prospect of widespread instability and humanitarian crises prompted the United States to act. Even though the survival of the Iraqi government appeared to be at stake, the United States was wary of another ground intervention in Iraq. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) charged onto the scene in June 2014 by conquering large parts of Iraq and Syria and easily defeating the U.S.-trained Iraqi military.