Obama Sending up to 300 Soldiers to Iraq: Move is Limited

Local Editor

US President Barak Obama authorized additional military assistance for Iraq's fight against terrorists, but made clear that he will continue to hold back more substantive support, including US airstrikes, until he sees a direct threat to US personnel or a more inclusive and capable Iraqi government.

Obama said he would send up to 300 additional US Special Operations troops to better assess the situation on the ground, and to determine "how we can best train, advise and support Iraqi security forces going forward."

With the "situational awareness" provided by the advisers and with intelligence assets being increased in and around Iraq, Obama said, "we will be prepared to take targeted and precise military action if and when we determine that the situation on the ground requires it."

But "American combat troops are not going to be fighting in Iraq again," he said, a point he made repeatedly during remarks in the White House briefing room. "Ultimately, this is something that is going to have to be solved by Iraqis."

Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlak, said he met with US Ambassador Robert Stephen Beecroft and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Brett McGurk on Wednesday.

"In the meantime," Obama said, "my job is to make sure that American personnel there [are] safe, that we are consulting with the Iraqi security forces, that we're getting a better assessment of what's on the ground and that we're recognizing the dangers of [ISIL] over the long term and developing the kinds of comprehensive counterterrorism strategy that we're going to need to deal with this issue."

Obama said he was sending Secretary of State John F. Kerry to the region this weekend to consult with other governments in the Middle East and Europe. Kerry is also expected soon to travel to Iraq for a face-to-face meeting with Maliki.

"Our view is that Iran can play a constructive role if it is helping to send the same message to the Iraqi government that we're sending, which is that Iraq only holds together . . . if the interests of Sunni, Shia and Kurd are all respected," Obama said.

He further added: "If Iran is coming in solely as an armed force on behalf of the Shia . . . then that probably worsens the situation."

In addition to increasing intelligence assets in Iraq - including manned and unmanned aerial reconnaissance - Obama has ordered up to 275 troops to bolster security for the US Embassy and other American facilities in Baghdad.

Those troops, and the new ones Obama announced Thursday, will effectively double the US military presence in Iraq. About 600 military personnel assigned to the embassy have been handling US military sales and other forms of cooperation since the last combat troops withdrew from Iraq at the end of 2011.

Some of the newly authorized forces, drawn from US Central Command units already in the Middle East, will establish joint operations centers in Baghdad and northern Iraq to share intelligence and coordinate planning, including helping Iraqis target ISIL forces.

A second senior official said that "we will start with small teams of about a dozen each" positioned in "higher headquarters, perhaps down to the brigade level. . . . They are going to go in there and give us a little bit better sense of the state and cohesiveness of the Iraqi security forces and give us advice about the future role of any additional advisers."

"We are going to start small," the official said. But "the president made clear that unilateral military action and . . . discrete and targeted strikes remain a possibility . . . once we have better information" on the ground.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team