U.S. Strikes in Syria Won’t ‘Shock and Awe,’ Dempsey Says

U.S. airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria won’t be a repeat of the 2003 Iraq War’s opening attacks, dubbed “shock and awe,” the Pentagon’s top general said today.

Strikes of the size and scope executed against Iraqi forces and installations in March 2003 won’t be done because “that is not how” the Islamic State is organized, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey told the Senate Armed Services Committee today. “But it will be persistent and sustainable,” he said.