ISIL militants have shown their brutality toward civilians in cities they capture. Most notably they have kidnapped thousands of women and murdered all males captured in towns and villages including the village of Shingal in Iraq. Without the use of close combat aircraft ISIL may be able to penetrate the poorly supplied YPG militia attempting to prevent a massacre in Kobane. Hundreds to thousands of civilians are at risk of death due to their ethnicity. The A-10 Thunderbolt has proven highly effective in close combat including ability to destroy heavy armored vehicles and tanks. The US manufactured much of the heavy armor that ISIL is using to overwhelm the defenses of Kobane. The US must destroy the heavy weaponry to support the YPG militia which lacks similar equipment.



