U.S. general urges bigger role in Syria

Votel says more troops an option in fight to retake Raqqa from Islamic State

AMMAN, Jordan — More U.S. troops may be needed in Syria to speed the campaign against the Islamic State group, the top U.S. commander for the Middle East said Wednesday.

“I am very concerned about maintaining momentum,” Gen. Joseph Votel, the head of the U.S. Central Command, told reporters accompanying him on a trip to the region.

“It could be that we take on a larger burden ourselves,” he added. “That’s an option.”

The current U.S. strategy is to press the Islamic State group from multiple directions by moving ahead with the offensive to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa even as Iraqi forces carry on their operation to take western Mosul in their homeland.

Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters backed by the United States are to play the principal role in seizing Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State’s professed caliphate.

But one option being considered is for U.S. troops to step up their support of the fighters with artillery, mortars, and help with logistics and by significantly expanding efforts to advise them, much as the United States is doing for Iraqi forces in the battle for Mosul.

In late January, President Donald Trump gave the defense secretary, James Mattis, 30 days to develop a “preliminary plan” to defeat the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. That deadline is fast approaching.

Trump has not said what steps he is prepared to take to make good on his campaign vow to hasten the defeat of the Islamic State group. But he has a high regard for U.S. generals and for Mattis, and he is likely to be receptive to their recommendations.

Votel’s trip to the region and a visit Mattis recently made to Iraq are intended to help the Pentagon refine the plan that is presented to the White House.

The United States has about 500 special operations troops in Syria. If the U. S. military presence were to be expanded, additional personnel could come from conventional combat units, though Votel stressed that he would not recommend deploying large combat formations.

“We want to bring the right capabilities forward,” he said. “Not all of those are necessarily resident in the special operations community. If we need additional artillery or things like that, I want to be able to bring those forward to augment our operations.”

Raqqa has long been an objective for the U. S.- led campaign. In addition to serving as the Islamic State group’s capital, it has been a sanctuary for militants who have plotted to carry out terrorist attacks in Europe.

But the mission to seize Raqqa has been seriously complicated by Turkey’s vociferous objections to any effort by the United States to arm the People’s Protection Units, a Kurdish militia in northern Syria.

U.S. military officers have said that the People’s Protection Units militia is the most capable Syrian fighting force and the best hope for mounting an attack to capture Raqqa in the coming weeks. To conduct urban warfare, however, the group needs to be equipped with armored vehicles, heavy machine guns and other arms.

Turkey, however, has denounced the People’s Protection Units as a terrorist group. The U.S. ambassador in Ankara, U.S. officials say, has cautioned that proceeding with the plan to arm the Kurdish group could prompt a major Turkish backlash, which could ultimately undermine U.S. military efforts in Syria.

After months of sharp debate within his administration, President Barack Obama concluded during his final week in office that the United States should arm the People’s Protection Units, former administration officials said. But Obama left the ultimate decision to the Trump administration, which had informed his national security adviser that it wanted to conduct its own review of military strategy.

Many observers say that if arming the People’s Protection Units is ruled out, it could take a long time to cobble together an alternative force that could draw on Turkish-backed Syrian militias and other fighters. How effective that force might be is unclear.

The Turkish military and the Syrian fighters it backs have had a difficult time trying to seize the northern town of Al Bab from the Islamic State even though U.S. teams have been inserted with Turkish units to call in U.S. airstrikes.

“It could be that we take on a larger burden ourselves. That’s an option.”

— Gen. Joseph Votel, Central Command