23 Dec 2015

The role of Special Forces against Islamic State

From Nine To Noon, 9:08 am on 23 December 2015

There appears to be a push to get more western special forces in the fight against Islamic State. At the start of this month US President Barack Obama announced a new task force to target IS leaders and gather intelligence. Over the weekend the UK Times newspaper trumpeted the role of British SAS forces in combating IS fighters in Libya. The New Zealand Labour leader Andrew Little announced yesterday said he would support sending New Zealand special forces into Iraq if the conditions are right. Michael Knights is an analyst and Iraq expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He's been on the ground in Iraq this year assessing the situation on the ground and giving advice to US military command.