Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the new forces will largely be used to advise Iraqi forces closer to the front lines.
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Earlier Monday, during a visit to Baghdad, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced the U.S.is providing more than 200 additional troops and several Apache attack helicopters to assist Iraqi forces in retaking Mosul.
President Barack Obama hailed the 2011 withdrawal of American troops from Iraq as a major accomplishment of his presidency, but the U.S. has been steadily drawn back into the country since IS jihadists overran swathes of territory in 2014.
Most of the additional 200 U.S. troops will be special forces, according to the Associated Press. The remainder would include trainers, security forces for the advisers and maintenance teams for the Apaches.
The advise and assist teams – made up of about a dozen troops each – would embed with Iraqi brigades and battalions, putting them closer to the fight, and at greater risk from mortars and rocket fire.
A senior defense official told reporters traveling with Carter that while Iraqi leaders have been reluctant to have a large number of USA troops in Iraq, they also need certain capabilities that only more American or coalition forces can provide.
Carter will meet officials including Abadi and Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi to discuss increasing American military assistance to Iraq ahead of the key battle for second city Mosul.
Previously, US advisers typically worked with Iraqi troops at the headquarters level – away from the front lines.
The U.S. will additionally provide Army Apache attack helicopters – something the U.S. had been pushing for months in the face of resistance from the Iraqi government.
“If they prove to be insufficient, that will be another assessment that we will make (about additional forces)”, he said. At that time, the Iraqis turned down a US offer to provide Apache helicopters for the battle to retake Ramadi.
“(Carter) and I both believe that there will be an increase to the US forces in Iraq in the coming weeks”, he said late last month.
Speaking to US troops at the airport in Baghdad, Carter also said that the USA will send an additional long-range, rocket-assisted artillery system to Iraq.
He has said that “the success of the campaign against (IS) in Iraq does depend upon political and economic progress as well”, and that “it’s important that we continue to support” Abadi. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The US also plans to give Kurdish Peshmerga forces, which are fighting IS on the ground, more than $400m (£280m; €350m) in assistance.
Carter is holding a series of meetings in Iraq, including with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and top US military commanders.
He also is expected to speak by phone with the president of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani. McCain has long pressed Obama to send more US troops and authorize them to play a more direct role in fighting the terrorist group.
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General Sean MacFarland, commander of the US-led operation against IS, later told reporters travelling with Carter that the United States had not ruled out sending further troops at a later stage if the current boost proves insufficient.
