[icopyright one button toolbar]
The Defense Department has announced that, “as part of the strategy to defeat ISIL terrorists,” President Obama has authorized up to 1,500 additional troops to Iraq, pretty much doubling the number of U.S. forces on the ground there now. The new authorization gives the U.S. military the ability to deploy up to 3,100 troops. About 1,400 U.S. troops are now on the ground in Iraq, just below the previous authorized limit of 1,600 troops
The troops’ mission will be to advise, retrain and assist Iraqis and Kurdish forces in their battle against ISIL.
According to DOD they will not serve in combat roles.
According to Reuters, “Obama’s decision greatly expands the scope of the U.S. campaign and the geographic distribution of American forces, some of whom will head into Iraq’s fiercely contested western Anbar province for the first time to act as advisors,” and “raises the stakes in Obama’s first interactions with Congress after his Democratic Party was thumped by Republicans in mid-term elections this week. The White House said it would ask Congress for $1.6 billion for a new “Iraq Train and Equip Fund.”
DOD says that the decision follows a “request by Iraq’s government and an assessment of Iraqi units by U.S. Central Command.” It was also based on an evaluation of the progress made by Iraqi security forces in the field, according to DOD.
Two expeditionary advise-and-assist operations centers will be established in locations outside of Baghdad and Irbil with about 630 of the newly authorized troops to be assigned to the expanded advise-and-assist mission. In addition, DOD says, several new training sites will be established across Iraq “that will accommodate the training of 12 Iraqi brigades — nine from the Iraqi army and three Kurdish Peshmerga brigades.”
The remainder of the troops, Pentagon spokesman Admiral Kirby added, about 870, will be assigned to this mission in various roles, including logistics and force protection.
Kirby also said that a number of coalition nations have agreed to contribute personnel to the training effort.
Read more here.
Lead photo: DOD
