He said the increase would bring the number of us special forces in the country to as many as 300 troops, including special forces.
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President Barack Obama announced on Monday that he’s sending 250 additional military personnel to Syria as part of the effort to combat Islamic State, as the USA seeks to increase pressure on the terrorist group.
“If this additional commitment of additional troops yields positive results and the Department of Defense concludes that, again, additional results could be generated with an additional commitment”, spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters, “I think that’s something that the president would consider”.
Meanwhile the president said Europe generally could do more to prepare for its own defence and to fight DAESH.
“They’re not going to be leading the fight on the ground, but they will be essential in providing the training and assisting local forces as they continue to drive ISIL back”, Mr. Obama said during his speech, referring to the extremist organization by one of its acronyms.
Despite the administration’s insistence the US isn’t fighting the ground war against ISIS, special forces have participated in targeted raids on the ground in Syria.
That would deny Islamic State access to the outside world, but would infuriate Turkey which regards the border as the main access route for other Sunni Muslim rebel groups it supports against Assad, and for aid to civilians in rebel areas.
Obama and his host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, are checking out high-tech inventions and chatting with developers at the massive industrial technology trade show. A senior USA official said the US was indeed ready to help with that effort but had no new mission to announce. And he said that once the USA presidential primary season is over and politics settle down, the trans-Pacific pact, awaiting ratification, can “start moving forward” in Congress. Before returning to Washington later Monday, Obama held high-level talks Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo.
Speaking in Germany, he accused Europe of complacency over its own defence and called on North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies to spend more on worldwide security.
US President Barack Obama made an impassioned plea for European unity in the face of rising populism and scepticism yesterday, warning this was a “defining moment” for the continent.
“I’ve come here today to the heart of Europe to say that the United States and the entire world needs a strong and prosperous and democratic and united Europe”, Obama said. In Syria, jihadist fighters have been pushed from the strategic city of Palmyra by Russian-backed Syrian government forces.
Obama will explain his decision in a speech at 11:25 am (0925 GMT) in Hanover, where he discussed the Syria crisis with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday.
Syrian opposition group the High Negotiations Committee said boosting the USA military presence to 250 more would be “a good step” and help “rid our country of this scourge”.
“In the last century, just twice in 30 years, the forces of empire and intolerance and extreme nationalism consumed this continent and cities like this one were largely reduced to rubble”, Obama said.
He said that over the course of Obama’s seven years in office, the president has deliberately changed the character of USA foreign policy so that it addressed a much broader set of issues and was better able to focus on anti-terrorism operations.
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In Iraq, the United States plans to send 200 more soldiers and Apache helicopter gunships in preparation for an offensive to retake Mosul.
