U.S. names Syria-Iraq campaign ‘Inherent Resolve’

By

Robert Burns, The Associated Press

SANLIURFA, TURKEY – OCTOBER 15: (TURKEY OUT) Heavy smoke rises following an airstrike by the US-led coalition aircraft in Kobani, Syria, during fighting between Syrian Kurds and the militants of Islamic State group, as seen from the outskirts of Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, October 15, 2014. Islamic State are believed to control more than a third of Syrian city of Kobani since they arrived in mid-September. Kurdish forces have now advanced after a series of US-led coalition air strikes on ISIS positions in and around the besieged town. (Photo by Gokhan Sahin/Getty Images)

Weeks into its air campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, the Pentagon has finally announced a name for the operation: “Inherent Resolve.”

That’s the word from a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Col. Ed Thomas, who says his office was ultimately responsible for the naming decision.

Military operations are routinely given official names, in part for administrative reasons. They usually are intended to convey a message. The U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, for example, is named “Operation Enduring Freedom.”

The U.S. has more than 1,400 military personnel in Iraq as part of the campaign against the Islamic State group, but none in Syria.