On Friday, United States President Barack Obama commanded to send 1,500 additional troops to Iraq to strengthen the performance of Iraqi and Kurdish forces fighting ISIS in field combat. The president has authorized the doubling of the US troops in Iraq for the ongoing war against the Islamic State.
President Obama's authorization in sending additional troops in Iraq is promoting added damage against "boots on the ground." According to The Guardian, Pentagon said the training is expected to last the better part of the year, which increases questions about the ability of the Iraqi troops to seize territory away from ISIS.
The deployment of additional US troops in Iraq meant to train and advice Iraqi and Kurdish forces. The New York Times reported the trainers and advisers are to aid Iraqis and Kurds as they plan a major offensive expected next spring against ISIS militants who have poured into Iraq from Syria.
On a statement released Friday, Pentagon officials said the military advisers would establish training site across Iraq in a significant expansion of the US military campaign in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State. According to a Defense Department official said a number of military personnel would deploy specifically to Anbar province.
The Iraqi province of Anbar is a Sunni stronghold in western Iraq that was the scene of gory combat for years after the 2003 US-led invasion. In recent months, the Sunni militants with the Islamic State have been taking hold of territories across Anbar.
The Pentagon stressed Obama's additional troops will not be used in a combat role. Meanwhile, US warplanes will continue their almost daily attack of ISIS targets from the air.
"US troops will not be in combat, but they will be better positioned to support Iraqi security forces as they take the fight [against ISIS]," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
The US military would also be setting up two "advice and assist operations centers" outside Baghdad and the northern city of Erbil, as reported by BBC News.
To finance the expanded effort for sending additional troops in Iraq, Obama has asked the Congress for an additional $5.6 billion. As said by budget director Shaun Donovan, the funds will sustain operations like the airstrikes and associated logistics. It includes $1.6 billion as a "train and equip fund" for Iraqi and Kurdish forces to enable them to go on the offensive.
The budget director also added $3.4 billion will be used to support ongoing operations which include military advisers, intelligence collection and ammunition. While the rest of the requested funds would go to the State Department to support diplomacy and to provide aid to neighboring nations, Lebanon and Jordan.
However, the Pentagon said none of the additional troops will arrive in Iraq unless and until the Congress approves the funding package, which is separate from the current expenditure resolution that expires on Dec. 12.
Officials strongly emphasized the request for the additional troops is not part of Obama's plan to seek a new authorization for the use of military force from Congress by the end of the year.
President Obama's announcement for deploying of additional troops in Iraq came three days after the midterm elections, which fueled questions of whether the administration, cautious of enraging a battle-weary American public, decided to lessen further damage to Democratic candidates.
For several weeks now, administration officials have said they expected to have send additional US troops to help the Iraqi forces, who initially crumbled in the face of the storming Islamic State.
The additional troops requested by US President Barack Obama will increase and deepen US support for Iraqi forces across the nation.
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