The former secretary of State has been more hawkish than Obama on Syria. But the train-and-equip program failed spectacularly and the president abandoned it earlier this fall. “From the outside, this looks like it’s nearly a psychological move to let the moderate forces (in Syria) know that we’re behind them, we support them”. “As we develop new opportunities to support capable and motivated forces we will consider those; we will make recommendations to the president”. “Our strategy in Syria hasn’t changed”, said Earnest.
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They will deploy in stints of 60 days or less to “gauge the situation”.
He said the US special operations forces would train, advise and assist local forces as part of the stepped-up USA effort against IS. Furthermore, the official said there is no intention of engaging in long-term, large-scale combat operations. “The United States can not and should not be on the front lines in Syria”, Heinrich wrote.
A Pentagon official said it will take up to a month for the special forces to reach Syria and would not rule out the possibility that more could follow. And now, the U.S. Is sending special operations forces.
The U.S.is also talking with the Iraqi government about setting up a commando task force to better target Islamic State leaders and networks.
He added that the US will soon beef up its air campaign by sending F-15 fighter planes to a Turkish air base, giving the U.S.an opportunity to accelerate airstrikes.
For the last twelve months, the United States and coalition forces have been carrying out air strikes against IS in the region of Syria that it controls to the north of the country along with the neighbouring parts of Iraq.
Earnest maintained the USA role in Iraq and Syria, under Operation Inherent Resolve, will not shift toward a combat mission, which has been questioned in that past week since Army Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler was killed during a U.S.-Kurdish peshmerga raid of an Islamic State prison in northern Iraq. Just last week, the first American combat death at the hands of the terror group in Iraq. The administration says it has made progress in Iraq and Syria when it has worked with partners on the ground, but is scaling back its much-maligned training and equipment mission. They are at risk, and there is no denying that… “Nobody is more keenly aware of that than the commander in chief”.
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that the USA was prepared to conduct “opportunistic attacks” against Islamic State forces in Syria, including “direct action on the ground”.
Mohamed Rasho, a spokesman for the Syrian Kurd fighting force YPG, has voiced his readiness to accept help in his fight against ISIS.
The Iranian position has been modified after four years of engagement in fighting against anti-Assad rebels, who were able to seize key territories in the war-torn country.
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While USA fighters are believed to have previously carried out covert missions in Syria-they had not been deployed there on a continuous basis.
