If you like your boots-on-the-ground, you can keep them... and have some more. Whether a strawman or not, Reuters reports [7] that according to US officials, the U.S. military has drawn up plans to significantly increase the number of American forces in Iraq, which now total around 1,400, as Washington seeks to bolster Iraqi forces battling the Islamic State.
- *OBAMA AUTHORIZES 1,500 MORE U.S. MILITARY PERSONNEL FOR IRAQ
- *OBAMA REQUESTING $5.6 BILLION MORE TO FIGHT ISLAMIC STATE
- *WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY SAYS TROOPS WON'T BE IN COMBAT ROLE
- *PENTAGON TO SET UP NEW OPERATIONS, TRAINING CENTER IN IRAQ
Via Reuters, [7]
The U.S. military has drawn up plans to significantly increase the number of American forces in Iraq, which now total around 1,400, as Washington seeks to bolster Iraqi forces battling the Islamic State, U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to offer details. The United States aims to help advise and train Iraqi and Kurdish forces battling Islamic State fighters who swept into much of northern Iraq.
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The Obama administration is prepared to almost double the American military presence in Iraq to 3,000, sources told NBC News on Friday.
The current figure is about 1,600. The sources said that an increase to 3,000 was among several options under consideration. There is no plan to include ground combat forces in the additional deployments, they said.
The additional troops are needed to expand the military’s role in training and helping Iraqi forces, including the highly volatile part of Anbar Province under the control of ISIS, the sources said.
The White House and Pentagon were expected to announce further details later Friday.
* * *
So The US must be 'winning' against ISIS if they need more humanitarian military advisor non-boots-on-the-ground troops...?
