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The Air War on ISIS

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: This is a special edition of CNN 10 and we`re happy to have you watching it. My name is Carl Azuz, broadcasting from the

CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Our focus today is on something called Operation Inherent Resolve. This is an international effort to rid the world of the ISIS terrorist group.

inherent [ɪnˋhɪrənt] adj. 固有的, 与生俱来的

We discussed how ISIS, an acronym for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, wanted to create a caliphate, a government based on its severe

caliphate [ˋkælə͵fet] n. 回教国王的地位；回教国王的管区

interpretation of Islam. It`s swept across the Middle East in 2014, taking control of towns, cities, oil and gas fields.

ISIS became infamous for its ruthless mass murder of civilians, for enslaving thousands of people and for destroying or looting ancient

monuments and artifacts. But since 2014, the terrorist group has lost a lot of ground.

Today, it controls only a fraction of the territory it did three years ago. This summer, it lost control of Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, and

this fall, it lost control of Raqqa, what ISIS called its capital in Syria.

Much of the damage on the terrorist has been inflicted from the skies. That`s one major component of Operation Inherent Resolve. Its mission, to

inflict [ɪnˋflɪkt] v. 给予（打击）；使遭受（损伤等）

defeat ISIS, was established in 2014.

It involves dozens of countries from around the world. It`s led by the U.S. It`s come at a cost of millions of dollars per day, but its effects

have led to a ruin for much of the terrorist organization.

And today, we`re giving you a bird`s eye view of its impact on ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It`s impossible to think that any of the gains that had been made in the fight against

ISIS, that those would have been impossible without air power.

SUBTITLE: Since August 2014, America and its allies have been at war with ISIS.

The coalition has conducted over 20,000 air strikes.

Hundreds of civilians have died as a result.

PLEITGEN: The air war against ISIS consumes so much of the money on the fight against ISIS. And it`s so complex and it`s really, really expensive

and a lot bigger than you`ll see on TV.

SUBTITLE: The campaign is called "Operation Inherent Resolve".

CNN visited two undisclosed air bases in the Persian Gulf that are at the heart of the effort.

undisclosed [͵ʌndɪsˋklozd] adj. 未公开的；秘密的；身分不明的

This is the story of what it takes to drop a bomb.

The Air War on ISIS.

PLEITGEN: If anything there goes wrong, it can have catastrophic effects.

(voice-over): The air war eats up more than two thirds of the cost of the entire anti-ISIS campaign. That`s almost $13 million every day.

eat up 消耗; 用完

Now, to drop even a single bomb, the U.S. Armed Forces have assets at every elevation, from sea level, to the edge of space.

asset [ˋæsɛt] n. 才能；有利条件

elevation [͵ɛləˋveʃən] n. 高度；海拔

You need on the ground intelligence. You need a bird`s eye view of the battlefield. You need to keep planes in the air. You need planes to drop

the bombs. Of course, you need to deliver ammunition and supplies to drops on the ground.

ammunition [͵æmjəˋnɪʃən] n. 弹药，军火

We went on a mission to rearm frontline troops in Iraq. These flights are both critical and dangerous.

rearm [riˋɑrm] v. 再武装；改善（……的）装备

(on camera): I think that we`re going to take off and probably landing in some makeshift airstrip somewhere, offload the weapons and then get out.

airstrip [ˋɛr͵strɪp] n. 临时飞机跑道，简便机场；小型机场

I think they want to spend as little time as possible on the ground.

It`s a pretty serious mission, isn`t it, and getting ammunitions to the frontline groups I think is important and at the same time, probably not

very easy to do also for the pilots.

We`re carrying surface-to-surface rockets for frontline troops fighting against ISIS. So, this is a very urgent cargo I would say.

surface-to-surface [ˋsɝfɪstəˋsɝfɪs] adj. （火箭、飞弹等）地对地的（地）

ISIS that hides in the population, it`s very difficult to see where they are. They could just take regular cars and go somewhere. It has to be

really, really hard to bring the power, the air force, to bear without causing more damage than what you`re actually trying to achieve.

If anything there goes wrong, they can have catastrophic effects.

(voice-over): For this war, America needs lots of bombs. And this is where they`re assembled, a bomb farm where Vietnam era ordnance is

ordnance [ˋɔrdnəns] n.（总称）大炮

outfitted with GPS guidance kits, turning them into smart weapons. They can build up to 15 bombs every hour.

(on camera): I`m surprised, there`s a lot of bombs out there throughout the heat. That doesn`t matter?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That doesn`t matter. There`s no really hazards for handling this. You could drop this from a truck and it wouldn`t detonate.

detonate [ˋdɛtə͵net] v. 引爆

As its flying through the air, this thing is going to acquire several satellites, and will keep acquiring satellites until the target impact.

PLEITGEN: The fact that a guidance kit for a smart bomb cost around $20,000, that`s every single time there`s a strike with one of these.

That`s not even taking into account the money that you pay for the bomb itself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s actually surprising what these do. This can impact the ground straight down, or flies straight inside of a building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Daddy builds things that take care of bad guys. That`s about the easiest way to describe what I do to a 7-year-old.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Again, our breaking news tonight, the U.S. military has conducted air strikes against an ISIS position.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Call to action against ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, fight against ISIS is why we`re here. That`s our job. That`s not going to change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The U.S.-led coalition is carrying out airstrikes.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And ISIS says a senior leader has been killed in Syria.

SUBTITLE: The coalition has conducted over 20,000 air strikes, between 2014 and 2017.

But sometimes things go horribly wrong.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. military did not do its homework to really analyze the targets.

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: At least 40 people were killed when an airstrike hit a mosque.

SUBTITLE: The airstrikes resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These weapons were designed for large battle space, large buildings. We have very particular targets they were originally

designed for. The whole purpose of us being here is to make sure that we`re able to support the civilians and give them their country back.

We`re also having to make sure that we don`t cause undesired effects unto the civilian populace.

populace [ˋpɑpjələs] n. 平民，百姓，民众

When those happened, there`s an investigation. And we start looking at, where did things go wrong? Was it something that we executed fully in our

part, or was it everything was done correctly and it`s just a fog of war? Or was it a situation where ISIS, they move bodies in there?

fog of war 战争迷雾；战争阴霾

SUBTITLE: A popular ISIS tactic is to move civilians into active combat zones as shields.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We absolutely go back, investigate and determine what are the lessons learned and what do we need to do better next time?

PLEITGEN: So, you can`t drop a bomb if you don`t know when and where to strike. And that`s why intelligence is so important. And this strange

looking jet from the 1950s is still one of the best at getting that intel and finding ISIS fighters. It hits a top altitude of around 70,000 feet,

intel [ɪnˋtɛl] n. 情报；情报工作; (= intelligence)

forcing pilots to wear a spacesuit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, we`re able to help prepare the battle space by finding the opportunities that they may be able to seize so they can

prevail over our adversaries.

prevail [prɪˋvel] v. 胜过，战胜，优胜[（+over/against）]

adversary [ˋædvɚ͵sɛrɪ] n. 敌手；敌人

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We provide a huge amount of intel to combatant commanders around the world at very high levels of the Pentagon.

combatant [ˋkɑmbətənt] adj. 准备参加战斗的

PLEITGEN: We were amazed that for this technologically advanced and complicated war, in many cases, really old but upgraded planes are still

often the best option.

The international coalition against ISIS has already flown around 150,000 missions over Iraq and Syria, up to a hundred planes and drones in the air

24/7.

Now, to keep this massive operation rolling, planes need to be refueled in the air. That`s where the KC-10 extender comes in. It carries up to

350,000 pounds of gas.

(on camera): This is a difference between a jet fighter staying in the air for 45 minutes or staying in the air for seven to eight hours and being

able to come back again and again and again to attack ISIS positions.

(MUSIC)

PLEITGEN: The thing that really amazes is how broad the whole effort is. Every single strike that you hear about, every single advance that`s being

made would not be possible without all the stuff that`s flying in the air. It certainly is a lot of resources that are used to conduct all this.

SUBTITLE: Since CNN visited, collation forces helped drive ISIS out of Mosul and helped retake key parts of Raqqa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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