The White House says the new troops are advisers, not combat troops, but they will be in harm’s way.
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When they arrive, the US personnel will enter a region that’s contested by a wide range of combatants, from extremist Islamic State fighters to government forces and rebel militias in Syria.
In Washington, US officials said the small special forces contingent in Syria would work with local “moderate rebel” groups to fight against Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, and that it should not be considered a combat mission. The attack killed at least 40 people, activists said.
Syria’s multifront civil war has left more than 200,000 people dead and forced millions of civilians to flee for refuge in neighboring nations and in Europe. It is believed the decision by the White House to send Special Forces into the war zone is meant to counter not only the caliphate but also Russia’s veiled assistance to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The mission marks a major shift for Obama, whose determination to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has been balanced by an abiding worry that US troops not be pulled too deeply into the intractable Syrian conflict. But, since 2014, he has been slowly elevating USA involvement in the war-torn region.
The newly proposed Special Operations forces in Syria would reportedly work in tandem with US-backed militants and Kurdish fighters, supported by American air power, to mount an offensive on northeastern city of Raqqa, the de-facto capital of Daesh. Russia’s stepped-up military actions on behalf of the Assad regime have complicated US efforts to help rebels in northern Syria.
Joshua Landis, director of Center for Middle East studies at University of Oklahoma, said the US moves were unlikely to fundamentally change the dynamics on the ground or to significantly accelerate diplomacy.
Until now, the US, like Russian Federation, has deployed its military resources in Syria from the air.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said troops are “being deployed to Syria with a training, advising and assist mission, and that’s not to downplay the serious risk that they’re facing”.
In a similar vein, Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate panel he would be open to embedding USA forces with Iraqi combat units “if it had operational or strategic impact and we could reinforce success”.
The YPG was accused of war crimes in a recent report by Amnesty global, which documented allegations that the group forcibly displaced Arabs and Turkmen and burned down villages perceived as cooperating with its opponents.
The new details about the USA plan come days after Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told Congress that the US will step up its efforts to directly target the group that calls itself the Islamic State. Natter said. “Then, what is the fallback position with respect to search and rescue, with respect to close air support, with respect to our allies and potential adversaries?”
Special Operations troops are set to be deployed to Syria, though the number of boots on the ground will be small and will play a largely “advisory” role.
“These forces are at risk in a very unsafe part of the world and in a risky country”, Earnest continued.
But in eight hours of deliberations, no agreement was reached at the multinational summit.
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“I think the answer is yes but”, King says.
