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.
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According to U.S. News and World Report, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified alongside Carter that the force’s principal responsibility will be to increase U.S. intelligence for the region and the Islamic State’s activities.
Carter told the House Armed Services Committee that over time, the force would be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence, and capture ISIS leaders.
The United States already has about 3,500 troops in Iraq, but their mission is to “train and advise” local forces.
Iraq’s Prime Minister responded to Carter’s announcement, saying new special ops forces did not need to be deployed.
Despite its dismissal of having “boots on the ground” fighting the IS, the White House had argued that sending special operations forces was different from large-scale ground combat operations.
“We’re good at intelligence; we’re good at mobility; we’re good at surprise”.
“It’s the same mission, not a different one but we need to provide greater assistance in ways that meet with the Iraqi authorities consent and needs”, he said.
“Because that’s a lot of times who’s either directing the cross-border operations or who’s physically going across the borders”, Warren said, adding that the raids will “contribute to strengthening that border, reducing that porousness” of ISIS leaders. “And that’s the sensation that we want all of Isis’ leadership and followers to have”.
One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the force may number around 200 troops including support personnel, with only several dozen likely to conduct operations. No timetable was given on when the exceptional operations powers will start to touch base in Iraq. A USA soldier was killed during the operation. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the committee, said ISIS gains strength by claiming to be fighting against Western aggression.
“In Syria, the U.S. president has approved a plan to send in special forces, but is doing so without the consent of the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and that’s something that has angered Assad since the coalition launched air strikes more than a year ago”.
Carter discussed strategy and noted that U.S.-backed Kurdish forces had recently retaken the strategic town of Sinjar and cut off ISIS’s “main line of communication” between Raqqa, Syria and Mosul, Iraq, which are the two biggest cities still under their control.
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“A raid is a combat operation; there’s no way around that”, he said.
