--- description: Architect of U.S. air war in Afghanistan says U.S. strikes too limited. title: General Who Championed Air Power Challenges Pentagon on ISIS image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8508f2a013bab758/69875f5f8e060188fe4578c9/456900358.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Military](/tag/military/) ## Military Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # General Who Championed Air Power Challenges Pentagon on ISIS by [Mark Thompson](/author/mark-thompson/) ## Mark Thompson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 9, 2014 12:08 PM CUT  Smoke rising from the Syrian town of Kobani Thursday marks where clashes between its Kurdish defenders and ISIS attackers are underway. Smoke rising from the Syrian town of Kobani Thursday marks where clashes between its Kurdish defenders and ISIS attackers are underway.Emin Menguarslan / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images by [Mark Thompson](/author/mark-thompson/) ## Mark Thompson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 9, 2014 12:08 PM CUT Once a United States military effort bogs down, as is now happening in the battle for the Syrian border town of Kobani, two things happen: Pentagon officials explain why what is happening should come as no surprise, and experts carp about how it _is_ a surprise and could be done better. Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, [explained](http://time.com/3482713/pentagon-kobani-syria-turkey/ "undefined") Wednesday why the U.S. and its allies are basically powerless to stop the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) from taking Kobani, which sits on Syria’s border with Turkey, and the 200,000 residents still living there. ISIS is now reported to control about a third of the town, half of whose population has fled to Turkey. “Airstrikes alone,” Kirby said, “are not going to . . . to save the town of Kobani.” Them’s fighting words to air power advocates like David Deptula, a retired Air Force lieutenant general who ran the successful air campaign over Afghanistan in the opening months of the U.S. campaign there. Deptula responded to Kirby’s comments in an overnight email from Australia: --- > “” --- Fighting words, indeed. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3484325/pentagon-isis-air-power/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3484325/pentagon-isis-air-power/"},"headline":"General Who Championed Air Power Challenges Pentagon on ISIS","datePublished":"2014-10-09T12:08:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:40:58.147Z","description":"Architect of U.S. air war in Afghanistan says U.S. strikes too limited","url":"https://time.com/3484325/pentagon-isis-air-power/","keywords":["Military","Syria","Iraq","Terrorism","Weapons","National Security","Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8508f2a013bab758/69875f5f8e060188fe4578c9/456900358.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Thompson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mark-thompson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8508f2a013bab758/69875f5f8e060188fe4578c9/456900358.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Clashes between ISIL and Kurdish armed groups in Kobane","caption":"Clashes between ISIL and Kurdish armed groups in Kobane","creditText":"Emin Menguarslan / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/military/","name":"Military"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3484325/pentagon-isis-air-power/","name":"General Who Championed Air Power Challenges Pentagon on ISIS"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"ISIS Militants Raise Their Black Flags in Kobani Border Town","description":"After several days of fighting against Kurdish forces, ISIS militants enter the border town of Kobani","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/qNgEviC8/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-10-07T04:58:50.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qNgEviC8.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3484325/pentagon-isis-air-power/","duration":"PT39S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3484325/pentagon-isis-air-power/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```