More US Special Forces to Iraq!

Local Editor

The Obama administration is considering sending 250 additional US Special Forces to Syria to advise opposition groups as part of a broader Pentagon recommendation on how to increase the pace of operations against Daesh, a US military official said Friday.

The goal is to lay the groundwork for local forces to retake both Raqqa, Syria, and Mosul, Iraq, and eliminate Daesh's ability to use them as areas from which to plan external attacks.

US President Barack Obama emphasized the importance of that goal after a meeting with top commanders at the White House earlier this week.

"We should no longer tolerate the kinds of positioning that is enabled by them having headquarters in Raqqa and Mosul. We've got to keep on putting the pressure on them," Obama said Tuesday.

If approved, these troops would grow the current US Special Operations effort of up to 50 troops authorized to be in Syria. They are there to provide advice and assistance to opposition Syrian forces.

That effort has proven successful in several recent battles, including efforts to cut ISIS travel between Raqqa and Syria and to retake the key town of Shaddadi in Syria.

"We are considering a number of different proposals to accelerate the defeat of "ISIS" by better enabling local forces, but no decisions have been made," said Navy spokesman Capt. Jeff A. Davis, using a different acronym for the terror group.

US officials had originally told CNN the proposed increase would be just a few dozen because of the need to provide additional support forces such as aviation and intelligence. But another emerging line of thinking is to agree to an overall significant increase, publicly announce it and then send in the forces gradually over time.

The number of Special Operations forces inside Syria ebbs and flows, with perhaps less than half the authorized amount inside Syria at any one time, one official said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team