“Next, in full coordination with the government of Iraq, we’re deploying a specialized expeditionary targeting force to assist Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces and to put even more pressure on ISIL”, Carter said.
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The Defense Department has brushed aside a statement from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi that some interpret as staunch opposition to a newly announced secretive commando unit set to deploy hundreds more US troops into the war zone to intensify the fight against the Islamic State group.
President Barack Obama had previously announced he was sending fewer than 50 special operations forces to Syria, but Carter said the new expeditionary force will be larger.
The announcement of the new special operations force to Iraq comes as Republicans have called for more USA boots on the ground, while war-weary Americans stand divided about the prospect of greater military involvement. He praised a “galvanized” France for its airstrikes against ISIS following the terrorist attacks in Paris, but attacked Russia’s air campaign in support of the Syrian government and pointed out that Persian Gulf countries have barely taken part in airstrikes by the coalition against ISIS in months.
A new study by George Washington University says several thousand Americans regularly “consume Islamic State propaganda”. We have the long reach that no one else has. He said US authorities were using the “finest fighting force the world has ever known” to fight ISIS militants.
At the time, Carter openly acknowledged that the ground forces had been involved in combat operations and there would be more such raids. “I told [the Baghdad-based] general MacFarland as recently as 10 days ago to not be inhibited at all in identifying capabilities he needs regardless of the force management figure”, Dunford said.
Currently, there are almost 3,500 US military service members in Iraq. A USA soldier was killed during the operation.
A US official familiar with the composition of special operations forces told Fox News that approximately 75 percent of the group bound for Iraq would provide support. The addition of this separate force marks a significant expansion of USA ground operations in the fight against ISIS.
“Because that’s a lot of times who’s either directing the cross-border operations or who’s physically going across the borders”, Warren said, adding that the raids will “contribute to strengthening that border, reducing that porousness” of ISIS leaders.
The presence of foreign troops in Iraq, if any, must be approved by and coordinated with the government, said Abadi, who is also the commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces.
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The militants also hold territory in Syria and have carried out major attacks in the Middle East and also Europe.
