Defense chief: 560 more U.S. troops to go to Iraq
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon will send 560 more troops to Iraq to help prepare for a long-awaited assault on Mosul, the Islamic State’s self-declared capital in the country, possibly before President Barack Obama leaves office.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced the escalation — a boost of more than 10 percent in authorized U.S. forces — during a surprise visit Monday to Baghdad to meet with senior Iraqi officials and U.S. commanders and troops.
The increase will bring the number of authorized U.S. military personnel in Iraq to 4,647. But that tally doesn’t include special op- erations forces and temporary deployments that bring the total to more than 5,000.
Carter said many of the new troops will work from an air base near Qayara, which was recaptured Saturday by Iraqi forces and is about 40 miles south of Mosul.
Backed by U.S.-led coalition warplanes, Iraqi ground forces and their allies have recaptured several major cities in recent months, including Tikrit, Ramadi and Fallujah, and have sought to cut off roads leading to Mosul.
“Despite the summer heat, our Iraqi partners — with your intrepid support — pressed ahead with the fight and cleared one town after another, dealing ISIL a series of blows,” Carter told U.S. troops at Baghdad’s airport, using an acronym for the Islamic State. “With these additional U.S. forces, we’ll bring unique capabilities to the campaign and provide critical support to Iraqi forces at a key moment in the fight.”
The Pentagon said the new U.S. forces will include engineers, logistics personnel and other military advisers and Qayara will “become a vital springboard” to retake Mosul.
The Qayara-based force will be allowed to accompany Iraqi troops at the battalion level and thus closer to the front lines than U.S. forces who are largely confined to Iraqi division headquarters.
The announcement ran into flak in Congress, where Rep. Mac Thornberry, RTexas, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, complained that the war against the Islamic State “cannot be won by inches” and insisted that the White House needs to submit a supplemental budget request.
Carter’s daylong visit to Iraq comes after a two-day NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland, where allies agreed to increase support for countries in the Middle East and North Africa that are battling extremism.
Carter met in Baghdad with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and other Iraqi leaders as well as Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, the U.S. military commander in Iraq.
The White House would like to capture heavily defended Mosul and deal a decisive blow to the militants before Obama leaves office in January.
The stakes are high for al-Abadi’s fragile government in Baghdad, which has struggled to quell growing discontent. Al-Abadi fired the head of security for Baghdad and other security officials on Friday, according to a statement from his office.