General says U.S. may need more Syria troops
Middle East commander wants to maintain “momentum” in fight to defeat Islamic State jihadists.
More AMMAN, JORDAN — U.S. troops may be needed in Syria to speed the campaign against the Islamic State group, the top U.S. com- mander for the Middle East said Wednesday.
“I am very concerned about maintaining momen- tum,” Gen. Joseph L. 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 from multiple directions by moving ahead with the offen- sive to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa even as Iraqi forces carry on their operation to take western Mosul.
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 group’s professed caliphate.
But one option being con- sidered is for U.S. troops to step up their support of the fighters by firing artillery and mortars, helping with logistics and significantly expand- ing 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 Defense Secretary Jim Mattis 30 days to develop a “preliminary plan” to defeat the Islamic State. 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 militants. But he has a high regard for U.S. gener- als 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.
“If we need additional artillery or things like that, I want to be able to bring those forward to augment our operations,” he said.
The mission to seize Raqqa has been seriously complicated by Turkey’s vociferous objections to any effort by the United States to arm the YPG, a Kurdish militia in northern Syria. U.S. military officers have said that the YPG is the most capable Syrian fighting force and the best hope for mounting an attack to capture Raqqa in the coming weeks.
Turkey has denounced the YPG as a terrorist group. 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 YPG, 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.