Mission creep: the gradual broadening of the original objectives of a mission or organization (Merriam -Webster)
June 16, 2014 – Administration announces sending 275 military personnel to protect the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
June 19, 2014 – Administration announces 300 military advisers to collaborate with and train Iraqi forces.
June 19, 2014- Secretary Kerry refers to ISIS as “more extreme than even al-Qaida and they are a threat to the United States and Western interests.”
June 26, 2014- Armed drones begin flight patterns over Baghdad to protect US military advisers in the area.
June 30, 2014 – Administration announces deployment of 200 more troops to Iraq.
July 9, 2014- Secretary Hagel says, “[ISIS] is a threat to the United States. It is a threat, clear threat to our partners in that area, and it is imminent.”
Aug. 7, 2014 – President Obama authorizes airstrikes in Iraq “to protect American personnel in Iraq by stopping the current advance on Erbil by (ISIS) in Iraq as they fight to break the siege of Mount Sinjar.”
Aug. 11, 2014 – President Obama announces, “We will continue to pursue a long-term strategy to turn the tide against ISIL.”
Aug. 11, 2014 – U.S. begins to provide weapons directly to Kurdish forces.
Aug. 12, 2014 – Administration announces 130 additional U.S. military personnel to assess the scope of the humanitarian mission.
Aug. 14, 2014 – Administration announces airstrikes to recapture the Mosul Dam.
Aug. 20, 2014 – Secretary Kerry states, “[ISIS] and the wickedness it represents must be destroyed.
Aug. 20, 2014 – President Obama talks about “rooting out a cancer like ISIL.”
Aug. 21, 2014 – Secretary Hagel describes ISIS as an “imminent threat to every interest we have” and “beyond anything that we’ve seen.”
Aug. 26, 2014 – President Obama approves surveillance flights over Syria.
Aug. 28, 2014 – President Obama authorizes airstrikes “in support of an operation to deliver humanitarian assistance to civilians in the town of Amirli, Iraq.”
Aug. 31, 2014 – U.S. and Iran form de facto alliance to break the siege of Amerli, Iraq.
Sept. 1, 2014 – Between August 8 and 31, the U.S. has launched 115 airstrikes.
Sept. 2, 2014 – Administration announces deployment of 350 additional military personnel to Iraq.
Sept. 2, 2014 – 1,100 U.S. troops are now deployed in Iraq.
Sept. 3, 2014 – President Obama announces the objective is to “degrade and destroy” ISIL. It will “take some time, but it is going to get done” … until the group is “no longer a threat to Iraq, the region and United States.”
Sept. 6 2014 – U.S. launches air strikes defend the Haditha Dam in Anbar province.
Sept. 8, 2014 – Unnamed Pentagon planners suggest that U.S. military campaign against ISIL could last 36 months.
Sept. 10, 2014 – President gives nation-wide address authorizing air strikes in Syria, 475 additional personnel, expanded training.
Sept. 12, 2014 – U.S. aircraft have flown 2,749 sorties to combat ISIL, including airstrikes, surveillance and refueling aircraft.
Sept. 14, 2014 – Former CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden predicts there could be nearly 5,000 U.S. personnel on the ground by the end of the year.
Sept. 16, 2014 – Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey tells Senate that American ground troops may be needed if the current strategy fails.
Sept. 22, 2014 – U.S. begins bombing, Tomahawk missiles and drone strikes on ISIL in Syria in conjunction with Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
Nov. 7, 2014 – White House authorizes 1,500 “additional U.S. military personnel in a non-combat role to train, advise, and assist Iraqi Security Forces, including Kurdish forces” against ISIS and asks for another $5.6 billion for the war.
Nov. 27, 2014 – U.S. shifts A-10 ground attack planes and Reaper drones from Afghanistan to fight the Islamic State.
