raq-ahead-of-spring-isis-
Top U.S. military officials are considering deploying ground troops to Iraq
ahead of a reported offensive in early 2015 designed to take back key
portions of the country captured by the Islamic State group.
The recommendation would sharply contrast with President Barack Obama's
current and contested position of refusing to allow any U.S. combat forces
to return to Iraq, which some military leaders believe hinders their
mission.
Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told
Congress in September that he would consider recommending the deployment of
ground troops if he felt the situation on the ground merited it. He
confirmed to the House Armed Services Committee Thursday morning that such a
deployment might be necessary when the Iraqi security forces attempt in the
spring to wrest the Sunni Muslim strongholds of Anbar province and Mosul -
Iraq's second-largest city - back from Islamic State group control.
Iraqi forces additionally will need to secure the border with Syria, where
The Associated Press says the Islamic State group and al-Qaida-affiliated
fighters reportedly have agreed to work together in a pact that also could
affect the U.S. military strategy.
"We're not predicting yet they would need to be accompanied by U.S. forces,
but we're certainly considering it," Dempsey said during his testimony. He
discussed the "modest footprint" of roughly 1,400 U.S. forces currently in
Iraq and largely based around operations centers in Baghdad and the Kurdish
capital of Irbil. An expected total of 3,100 troops ultimately will deploy
to help advise and train Iraqi forces and help the government with command
and control operations.
"Any expansion of that I think would be equally modest," Dempsey said.
Islamic State fighters continue to lay siege across Iraq and Syria while
battling an emaciated, U.S.-trained Iraqi military torn apart by corruption
and poor leadership since the full U.S. withdrawal from Iraq in 2011.
Obama repeatedly has said he would not send U.S. ground forces into Iraq in
a combat role. But he likely will face opposition on that restriction from
lawmakers, even in a lame-duck Congress. Rep. Buck McKeon, chairman of the
House Armed Services Committee, said a force authorization bill specifying
the U.S. will not deploy ground troops would be "DOA in Congress."
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