Obama has approved a deployment of over 200 more troops to Iraq in the fight to retake Mosul from ISIS, putting the total troop deployment to Iraq at just over 4.000. According to the Pentagon, these troops will be near the front lines as some of them ‘advise’ Iraqi forces near the front lines:
#Breaking: 200+ more U.S. troops heading to Iraq https://t.co/Z1rIFRZjPy
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) April 18, 2016
CBS NEWS – Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrived in Baghdad Monday to talk to Iraqi leaders about beefing up Iraqi forces working to retake the northern city of Mosul, a critical goal in the effort to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Carter said the U.S. will send 200 more troops and a number of Apache helicopters to Iraq to assist in the figh.
He said the new forces will largely be used to advise Iraqi forces closer to the front lines.
The decision reflect weeks of discussions with commanders and Iraqi leaders, and a decision by President Barack Obama to increase the authorized troop level in Iraq by 217 – or from 3,870 to 4,087.
Most of the additional troops would probably be Army special forces, who have been used to advise and assist the Iraqis. The remainder would include some trainers, security forces for the advisers, and more maintenance teams for the Apaches.
The advise-and-assist teams – made up of about a dozen troops each – would embed with Iraqi brigades and battalions, putting them closer to the fight, and at greater risk from mortars and rocket fire. They would have security forces with them.
Carter has said the U.S. is also considering a number of options, including more airstrikes, cyberattacks and American troops on the ground.
I’m all for defeating ISIS, but to what end here? Let’s just say we destroy ISIS in Iraq completely…what then? Are we just going to let Iran have it?
Of course, they already control it now anyway. Shiite militiamen are already fighting alongside the Iraqi Army to help defeat ISIS. So when this is all over, Iraq will become part of Iran and we will have played a key part in this.