First U.S. commandos being sent to Syria
Pentagon boosting support for allies against Islamic State
WASHINGTON— Facing mounting criticism for its policy in Syria, the White House said Friday it will send several dozen U.S. special operations troops to assist rebels in Syria for the first time, and is boosting other aid to regional allies in an effort to break the military stalemate against Islamic State.
The U.S. commandos will deploy in Kurdish-controlled northeast Syria, far from the more hotly contested areas farther south and west where Russian warplanes and Iranianbacked forces are supporting a ground offensive by troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad in the country’s bitter civil war.
The Americans — fewer than 50 in all — will serve as advisers to vetted Syrian and Kurdish rebel groups, help facilitate coalition airstrikes and gather intelligence on Islamic State and its allies, including an al-Qaidalinked militia.
The Americans will not take part in ground combat, officials said.
The modest operation was one of several Pentagon moves that represent a limited escalation for the Obama administration, which aims to avoid getting mired in the Syrian war and is wary of providing a recruiting tool for Islamic State propagandists.
Officials disclosed the plans Friday as Secretary of State John F. Kerry met diplomats from Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and more than a dozen other nations in Vienna to try to orchestrate an end to the widening conflict.
The diplomats agreed to urge the United Nations to try to arrange a ceasefire but acknowledged that no breakthrough appears likely.
Aides said U.S. President Barack Obama made the decision Thursday to expand the U.S. military role after weeks of deliberations with his top advisers. They described growing White House frustration at the impasse in Iraq and Syria despite more than 7,750 airstrikes by coalition warplanes during the past15 months.
Obama also approved adding about a dozen A-10 attack aircraft and an equal number of F-15 fighter jets to Incirlik airbase in Turkey, which has faced an onslaught of militant attacks near its porous southern border. Obama will visit Turkey on Nov. 15 for the G20 summit.
The administration also has approved increasing aid to Lebanon and Jordan, two of Syria’s other neighbours. Both Lebanon and Jordan have been inundated by refugees fleeing the war, and fear a spillover of the fighting.
The president rejected other more aggressive options prepared as part of a major policy review that began in the summer.
He did not authorize embedding U.S. advisers at the brigade level in Iraq, for example, or sending another squadron of Apache attack helicopters to Baghdad, as some experts had urged.
He also did not approve a Pentagon plan to impose a no-fly zone over Syria to protect civilians from attack by Assad’s forces, or a separate plan to set up a humanitarian corridor or other safe zone for displaced families.
U.S. Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday that he had not recommended either option to Obama.
“I don’t rule that out in the future,” he said.
The Pentagon has sent 3,550 military advisers and trainers to Iraq since August 2014 but none — at least publicly — to Syria until now.