Requirements creep
Looks like the message will soon be sent. We're coming to slaughter ISIS
-Geaux
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General Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrives to deliver a statement after a welcoming ceremony in Tel Aviv June 9, 2015.
Reuters/Baz Ratner
The Obama administration is preparing a plan to set up a new military base in Iraq's Anbar province and send several hundred additional trainers and advisers to help bolster Iraqi forces that have struggled in the fight against Islamic State militants there, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.
President Barack Obama could give final approval as early as Wednesday to expand the U.S. military contingent in Iraq, a source close to the discussions said, marking the first significant adjustment in his strategy since the insurgents seized Anbar’s capital Ramadi last month.
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed hope that a even a modestly beefed-up U.S. presence could help Iraq forces plan and carry out a counterattack to retake Ramadi.
But many critics have said previously that the current 3,100-strong American contingent of trainers and advisers is far from enough to turn the tide of battle.
Obama is expected to stick to his stance against sending American troops into combat or even close to the front lines, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. But increased U.S. numbers in Iraq’s volatile Sunni heartland raises could mean running greater risks.
The proposed build-up comes as Obama’s anti-Islamic State policy faces mounting criticism at home and abroad. U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have made only halting progress against Islamic State militants who seized about a third of Iraq over the past year in a brutal campaign marked by mass killings and beheadings.
Obama said on Monday the United States did not yet have a "complete strategy" for training Iraqi security forces to reconquer land lost to Islamic State fighters.
Since the fall of Ramadi, which drew harsh U.S. criticism of the Iraqi military performance, Washington has begun to speed up supplies of weapons to the government forces and examine ways to improve the training program.
With Obama closing in on a decision, one U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity said the increased U.S. deployment would likely entail several hundred more troops. A second official said the figure would be less than 500.
U.S. prepares plan to send several hundred more troops to Iraq officials Reuters
Looks like the message will soon be sent. We're coming to slaughter ISIS
-Geaux
------------
General Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrives to deliver a statement after a welcoming ceremony in Tel Aviv June 9, 2015.
Reuters/Baz Ratner
The Obama administration is preparing a plan to set up a new military base in Iraq's Anbar province and send several hundred additional trainers and advisers to help bolster Iraqi forces that have struggled in the fight against Islamic State militants there, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.
President Barack Obama could give final approval as early as Wednesday to expand the U.S. military contingent in Iraq, a source close to the discussions said, marking the first significant adjustment in his strategy since the insurgents seized Anbar’s capital Ramadi last month.
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed hope that a even a modestly beefed-up U.S. presence could help Iraq forces plan and carry out a counterattack to retake Ramadi.
But many critics have said previously that the current 3,100-strong American contingent of trainers and advisers is far from enough to turn the tide of battle.
Obama is expected to stick to his stance against sending American troops into combat or even close to the front lines, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. But increased U.S. numbers in Iraq’s volatile Sunni heartland raises could mean running greater risks.
The proposed build-up comes as Obama’s anti-Islamic State policy faces mounting criticism at home and abroad. U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have made only halting progress against Islamic State militants who seized about a third of Iraq over the past year in a brutal campaign marked by mass killings and beheadings.
Obama said on Monday the United States did not yet have a "complete strategy" for training Iraqi security forces to reconquer land lost to Islamic State fighters.
Since the fall of Ramadi, which drew harsh U.S. criticism of the Iraqi military performance, Washington has begun to speed up supplies of weapons to the government forces and examine ways to improve the training program.
With Obama closing in on a decision, one U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity said the increased U.S. deployment would likely entail several hundred more troops. A second official said the figure would be less than 500.
U.S. prepares plan to send several hundred more troops to Iraq officials Reuters
