Officials said Wheeler, a 20-year army veteran and Oklahoma native, was killed on Thursday when he and dozens of U.S. special operations troops and Iraqi forces raided a compound near the city of Kirkuk, freeing approximately 70 Iraqi prisoners.
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The raid marked an apparent break with the stated role of U.S. forces, who are in Iraq to support government forces but do not directly engage in combat in line with Obama’s “no boots on the ground” policy.
Delta Force commando Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler became the first American to die in combat against ISIS during Thursday’s raid – even though the White House refuses to call it a combat operation.
A rare look at the daring night-time mission to rescue around 70 hostages that American forces said faced imminent execution by Isis.
The Islamic State rakes in up to $50 million a month from selling crude from oilfields under its control in Iraq and Syria, part of a well-run industry that USA diplomacy and airstrikes have so far failed to shut…
In a statement, US Centcom commander General Lloyd Austin said: “We commend and congratulate the courageous individuals who participated in this successful operation that saved many lives, and we deeply mourn the loss of one of our own who died while supporting his Iraqi comrades engaged in a tough fight”.
ISIS militants attacked Kurdish positions on the frontline in Gwer, south of the region’s capital, overnight on Friday, after the raid.
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“There always seemed to be a smile on his face; he always made us laugh”, Vann said. The Kurds and USA believed there were at least 20 peshmerga in the raided compound, Kurdish and US officials said.
He added, “Not only did our support help prevent another mass killing, we enabled those partners of ours to deliver ISIL a clear defeat, and prevented them from broadcasting a horrific massacre to the world”. “It represents a continuation of our advise and assist mission”, argued the US defense secretary at one point.
Carter on Friday took pains to explain how Wheeler’s death does not mean that the entire force of 3,500 USA troops in Iraq is involved in a combat mission. This, he said, shows “the great value of raids of this kind, and I expect we’ll do more of these kinds of things”.
Wheeler, who joined the Army in 1995, was assigned to Headquarters, U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He is the first American service member killed in action by enemy fire while fighting Islamic State militants.
Regardless of whether the raid is considered a combat mission, it illustrates how fluid the advise-and-assist role can be when the situation on the ground turns risky.
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His body was returned to the United States today, and a coffin draped in the Stars and Stripes was pictured being taken out of a military transport plane at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. “Their grave had already been prepared”. “Probably not. But this may be a part of how Ashton Carter and President Obama think that they will show how we are still relevant in that area”, she said.
