Carter said the troops at Al Dhafra Air Base played an important role in the fight against Islamic State.
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His visit to the region comes as the U.S.is considering an increase in the number of American troops in Iraq.
The IS took control of Mosul in June 2014 after the fall of Iraqi army in the city and since then has been slaughtering its residents for various charges to spread fear.
“We are going to bring in additional forces”, Carter said after arriving in Baghdad on a surprise visit, without specifying the size of the new deployment.
The cost to the other services will likely increase soon.
Earlier this year, it was reported that several teachers and civil servants in Mosul were executed by the ISIS for refusing to follow a new curriculum the militants had introduced to schools.
Military officials say they would like to see American troops closer to the battlefield in Mosul for the anticipated assault on Iraq’s second largest city.
“Grudging incrementalism”, McCain called it. The Pentagon touted the recent killings of three of the Islamic State’s top commanders in Iraq and Syria as part of a bigger airstrike campaign that won back more than 40% of the group’s territory in Iraq.
President Barack Obama said he expects the city of Mosul to be retaken by the Iraqi government by the end of the year.
At the time, a senior Turkish official said up to 300 soldiers and 20 tanks were deployed there, although an unspecified number were pulled back following USA pressure to end the row with Baghdad. USA forces are increasingly involved in conventional and large-scale ground combat, making a mockery of Obama’s numerous vows to the contrary. Obama will be in Saudi Arabia later this week to meet with Gulf leaders and talk about the fight against the Islamic State group. Until now the advisers have been with larger units far behind the lines The move could leave USA advisers more vulnerable to enemy mortar and artillery fire.
“Our strategic approach makes sure that the defeat of ISIL is lasting”, he said, using a common acronym for the Islamic State. “We want to do it as fast as we possibly can”. According to The Associated Press, there will be eight Apaches “authorized to help the Iraqi forces when Iraq leaders determine they need them”. Four months ago the Iraqis recovered Ramadi after collapsing there in May 2015, which prompted Carter to question their will to fight. The added support will “tighten the noose” on ISIS, he said, but he suggested that the retaking of Mosul would be left to his successor in the White House.
Moreover, the United States will send more troops to Iraq, potentially putting them closer to the frontlines to advise Iraqi forces in the war against Islamic State militants. This means US advisers will embed with brigades and battalions and now serve closer to the front lines.
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About 5,000 troops from the Iraqi army’s 15th Division are operating in the 70-mile swath between Makhmour and Mosul, as Iraqis work with U.S. Marines to clear villages south of Mosul. “And when we get to that step, that will be another conversation that we’ll have” about USA support. “We don’t have the capability or resources to do that”. The money will be disbursed in monthly increments, Davis said.
