U.S. plans to send up to 400 more soldiers in Iraq to help in fight against ISIS 31006152

Defence & Security News - United States
 
U.S. plans to send up to 400 more soldiers in Iraq to help in fight against ISIS
The United States is planning to use an Iraqi base in central Anbar Province to house up to 500 American military specialists who will train Iraqi forces fighting against Islamic State radicals, The New York Times reports today June 10 citing American officials.
     
US plans to send up to 400 more soldiers in Iraq to help in fight against ISIS 640 001U.S. Army Sgt. Kevin Murphy, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, instructs Iraqi soldiers on individual movement techniques during a class at teh Ghuzlani Warrior Training Center
(US Army)
     
A final decision on the new training operation near the town of Habbaniyah has not been announced yet, the newspaper said on Tuesday, adding that US plans to send additional specialists to Iraq come in the wake of the capture of the city of Ramadi by ISIL militants.

"As the President has noted, we are considering a range of options to accelerate the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces in order to support them in taking the fight to ISIL [ISIS]," US National Security Council spokesperson Alistair Baskey said Tuesday, June 9.


"Where we've trained Iraqi forces directly and equipped them and we have a train-and-assist posture, they operate effectively," Obama said Monday. "Where we haven't, morale, lack of equipment, etc., may undermine the effectiveness of Iraqi security forces."


About 8,000 Iraqi security forces have been trained by coalition trainers. U.S.-trained Iraqi units were not engaged in combat around Ramadi when the largely Sunni city fell, the Pentagon said.

The United States currently has 3,000 troops in Iraq in a training capacity and continues to carry out airstrikes on Islamic State positions in Iraq, as well as Syria, where the Sunni radicals have also ceased vast territories.

The airstrikes are part of international US-led coalition efforts to eradicate ISIL, which has become notorious for its brutal tactics and beheadings of Western journalists. The coalition was formed by US President Barack Obama in September, 2014, and its military action has been limited to airstrikes.