The U.S. has agreed to deploy more than 200 additional troops to Iraq and to send eight Apache helicopters for the first time into the fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq, the first major increase in U.S. forces in almost a year, U.S. defense officials said Monday.
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US troops will be able to fly Apache helicopters to support Iraqi forces in the battle to retake Mosul as well as employ mobile ground artillery rocket systems.
Obama’s comments follow an announcement by the U.S. Department of Defense that the United States will increase troop numbers in Iraq, deploy AH-64 Apache helicopters and help fund Kurdish Peshmerga forces with up to $415 million.
The US has agreed to deploy more than 200 additional troops to Iraq and to send eight Apache helicopters for the first time into the fight against Islamic State (IS) forces in Iraq.
The new troops, who will include advisers and troops needed for helicopter and artillery operations, will bring the official force level for Iraq to 4,087, from 3,870 now.
“Now as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I fear this administration’s grudging incrementalism in the war against the Islamic State (ISIL) risks another slow, grinding failure for our nation”, he added. The U.S. also will provide additional sets of mobile artillery, known as HIMARS, to support Iraqi ground forces as they advance toward Mosul.
A Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) official from Mosul, Said Mamuzini, said that life is too hard for the women in Mosul due to the ISIS strict rules imposed on them.
Baghdad OverflightAn aerial view of Baghdad, Iraq, shows the city as Defense Secretary Ash Carter departs following visits with Iraqi leaders, April 18, 2016. ISIL is another name for the Islamic State.
The new USA troops will consist of advisers, trainers, aviation support crew, and security forces.
This is the latest in a growing number of United States combat operations around Mosul, usually taken in coordination with the Kurds, and in spite of Obama Administration assurances that the growing number of ground troops would exclusively be “non-combat”.
“And the announcements that Secretary (Ashton) Carter made earlier yesterday are consistent with that instruction from the President, and these enhancements are consistent with recommendations that the President received from his military advisors”, he said.
The package of military aid will involve dispatching more U.S. Army Special Forces, or Green Berets, who specialize in advising and training foreign military forces.
The additional 217 troops are the latest in a series of incremental additions to the US military effort in Iraq.
USA commanders estimate that there are 5,000 Islamic State fighters in Mosul and 5,000 more elsewhere in Iraq.
The U.S., said Carter, is “on the same page with the Iraqi government” in how to intensify the fight against the Islamic State.
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US President Barack Obama on Tuesday said that America-led global fight against ISIS is long and hard fight, but hoped that Iraq’s second city Mosul would be retaken from the dreaded terror group “eventually”. USA special forces are also deployed in Iraq and Syria as part of the campaign. Officials have quietly said that the actual number is closer to 5,000 when accounting for troops considered to be on “temporary” deployment.
