The Pentagon will send a special operations troops that is strike force to battle Islamic State jihadists in Iraq and Syria, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said. These American special operators will conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence and capture or kill ISIL leaders.
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While neither Carter or Dunford provided more details on the targeting force at the hearing, the rough outline sounded much like the special operations machine that conducted daily raids and intelligence gathering on Al Qaeda fighters and other insurgents during the Iraq War.
He also stressed that any military operation or foreign troop presence in Iraq will not happen without permission and coordination of the Iraqi government.
Referring to Islamic State attacks outside Syria and Iraq, McCain said: “They are metastasizing, and time is not on our side”. He said, “However, today’s announcement is yet another reactive and incremental step, specifically responding to the Paris attacks, in a policy that has allowed the ISIL threat to metastasize to Libya, Afghanistan, and elsewhere across the globe”.
During the congressional testimony in which he disclosed the creation of the force, Carter declined to say how many USA troops would be deployed. Carter said that number may increase over time if the current 50 prove effective. The U.S. already has a small number of special forces training Iraqi and Kurdish troops.
Carter did not offer troop numbers amid a growing call from some Republicans for more US boots on the ground and a divide among war-weary Americans about the prospect of greater military involvement.
“There is no need for foreign ground combat forces in Iraqi territory”, Abadi said in a statement released late Tuesday in which he praised the performance of Iraqi special forces. And it puts everybody on notice in Syria.
Abadi reiterated that foreign ground combat troops were not needed in Iraq, although it was unclear whether Baghdad viewed these special operations forces in that role.
The new expeditionary force will be based in northern Iraq with an initial focus on backing the Kurds and protecting Iraq’s borders with Syria.
The force operations, themselves, will be intelligence driven, the general said.
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In October, the Pentagon announced that it would send up to 50 special operations forces there to work with the Syrian Arab Coalition, a force of 5,000 Arab rebels that has been fighting ISIS.
