Obama doubles number of troops authorized for Iraq
President Obama authorized Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Friday to send up to 1,500 additional U.S. troops to Iraq, roughly doubling the force the United States has built up since June to fight the Islamic State militants who control much of Iraq and Syria.
The announcement of a major increase in the U.S. force in Iraq deepens U.S. involvement in a messy regional conflict that officials are warning may last for years. The White House said it would request $5.6 billion for the military campaign against the Islamic State, including $1.6 billion to train and equip Iraqi troops.
The additional American troops will expand a military advisory mission that began this summer and will establish a new effort to train Iraqi forces, Rear Adm. John F. Kirby, the Pentagon’s press secretary, said in a statement.
Kirby said U.S. Central Command will establish training sites for Iraqi forces in several locations in the northern, western and southern parts of the country. American troops had previously been confined to Baghdad and Irbil in the north.
Iraqi security forces have been struggling to retake territory controlled by the Islamic State, which has drawn its strength from the conflict in neighboring Syria.
Obama doubles number of troops authorized for Iraq - The Washington Post
President Obama authorized Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Friday to send up to 1,500 additional U.S. troops to Iraq, roughly doubling the force the United States has built up since June to fight the Islamic State militants who control much of Iraq and Syria.
The announcement of a major increase in the U.S. force in Iraq deepens U.S. involvement in a messy regional conflict that officials are warning may last for years. The White House said it would request $5.6 billion for the military campaign against the Islamic State, including $1.6 billion to train and equip Iraqi troops.
The additional American troops will expand a military advisory mission that began this summer and will establish a new effort to train Iraqi forces, Rear Adm. John F. Kirby, the Pentagon’s press secretary, said in a statement.
Kirby said U.S. Central Command will establish training sites for Iraqi forces in several locations in the northern, western and southern parts of the country. American troops had previously been confined to Baghdad and Irbil in the north.
Iraqi security forces have been struggling to retake territory controlled by the Islamic State, which has drawn its strength from the conflict in neighboring Syria.
Obama doubles number of troops authorized for Iraq - The Washington Post
