The US President Barack Obama’s most senior national security advisers on Tuesday said that measures would be taken to move the nation’s troops closer to the front lines in Iraq and Syria, officials said.
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The Pentagon is aiming to increase the pressure on ISIS in Syria and Iraq by supporting local forces with additional airstrikes and occasional ground support, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter told lawmakers on Tuesday.
Carter and Dunford said the United States will protect forces it trains and equips in Syria, but stopped short of saying what the administration would do about protecting other forces fighting Assad and ISIL.
And the third is raids, or opportunistic attacks against the Islamic State in both Iraq and Syria.
United States officials would not say which power would pass the invitation to Tehran and did not know if Iran would accept, but they said it would be welcome to attend.
It is also thought to have been influential in the decision of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement to send fighters to Syria to assist pro-Assad forces.
The defense chief also warned that more American soldiers would likely be in harm’s way as a result.
The way matters are going now, the plan for Iraq is for USA forces to join Iraqi and Iranian units in launching an offensive to recover Ramadi, capital of the Western province of Anbar, 110 km West of Baghdad, which ISIS captured in May.
“We’ve given the Iraqi government two battalions worth of equipment for mobilizing Sunni tribal forces; as we continue to provide this support, the Iraqi government must ensure it is distributed effectively”, he said.
But Republican members of the Senate committee remained critical on Tuesday with Lindsey Graham, a presidential candidate, calling the strategy “half-assed”.
This joint US-Kurdish raid brought forth a furious response from Turkey.
Carter’s comments come days after the first USA combat death in the war against IS.
“And that is that he is – does want to support – at least for now – Assad, avoid the collapse of the Syrian state, which I think he believed could occur, and that was one of the things that spurred his enhanced support for Assad”, he said.
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“That to that end we will support moderate Syrian forces fighting ISIL that have made territorial gains near Raqqa – indeed, a few of them are within 30 miles of Raqqa today”, he said, noting that Syrian Arab Coalition forces who were recently provided with 50 tons of ammunition from the USA, will primarily help in that effort.
