Since it looks like we aren't going to be able to deploy troops from Turkey, I'll bet that an airborne/airmobile operation using troops from the 82nd Airborne division and 101st Airborne (actually, they're "chopper hoppers" - airmobile) to that part of Iraq. A good moon might be useful under those conditions, at least for the paratroopers.

I made a few night jumps when I was a paratrooper. One of the jumps was with no moon and man, it wasn't fun. I couldn't see the ground, so all I could do was get into the correct body position and wait for the ground to come up and hit me. Even on the jumps where I had a partial moon, it was hard to make out obstacles on the ground. After landing, the troops then have to get organized and go after their objectives. It wasn't easy to do this in the dark.

My paratrooper experience was before night vision goggles were issued to the troops, but I don't think jumping while wearing the goggles would be a good idea. I forgot to take off my wristwatch on my first night jump. Just as I was leaving the plane, the static line snagged on the watch and partially wrapped around my arm. I threw my arm back to get free of the static line and hit the airstream in a most unstable aerodynamic configuration. I tumbled all over the place and may have been upside down when the chute opened. The opening shock was very violent and I saw stars, but not just up in the sky. It wasn't fun at all. Compared to a wristwatch, those goggles are much larger and represent a bigger possibility of fouling with the chute.