US Central Command dubbed the aerial offensive against ISIS “Operation Inherent Resolve,” applying the name retroactively to all operations in Iraq and Syria since Aug. 8, officials announced. The name signifies that “we are going to stay resolved and determined to get after this threat,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby explained in an Oct. 15 press briefing. “We’re going to do it in partnership, and I think that’s where the ‘inherent’ comes in the name,” Kirby added, noting that a total of 60 countries are now “involved in this effort in various forms.” CENTCOM stressed that Inherent Resolve will continue to be a broad coalition effort, but “diplomatic, informational, military, [and] economic” means also will be required to “degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIS, according to the release.
The Pentagon needs to take a look at the need for overseas bases, deployments, and exercises as the country grapples with the fiscal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and other priorities, the military’s top officer said Dec. 2. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley, speaking…