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Obama: U.S. Troop Increase in Iraq Signals 'New Phase'
[AnNahar] The deployment of an additional 1,500 American troops to Iraq marks a "new phase" in the campaign against Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... jihadists, U.S. President Barack Obama Itâs very rare that I come to an event where Iâm like the fifth- or sixth-most interesting person.... said in comments broadcast Sunday. "Phase one was getting an Iraqi government that was inclusive and credible -- and we now have done that," Obama told CBS News. "Rather than just try to halt ISIL's momentum, we're now in a position to start going on some offense," the president added. Obama stressed that the U.S. forces would not engage in combat, and would focus on training Iraqi recruits and some of the Sunni tribes that are fighting the Islamic State group. "We will provide them close air support once they are prepared to start going on the offense against ISIL (IS)," Obama told CBS's Face the Nation television program. "But what we will not be doing is having our troops do the fighting." When asked if any more U.S. forces will be sent to Iraq in the future, Obama said: "I'm never going to say never," but said the current plan was to see fewer U.S. troops over time. Obama on Friday announced that the United states would send up to 1,500 additional troops to Iraq to aid the Baghdad government and Kurdish forces fighting the Islamic State group, doubling the number of U.S. troops in the country.
The United States has deployed a team of about 50 troops to an air base in Iraq's fiercely contested Anbar province to lay the groundwork for an advisory mission at the core of its campaign against Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... myrmidons, officials said on Monday. The decision expands the scope of the campaign and the geographic distribution of forces, including the first deployment of US advisers to Iraq's western Anbar province, much of which is controlled by Islamic State forces. As part of those plans, a small group of US troops is conducting a site survey of facilities for potential future use at Ain al-Asad air base, the largest in Anbar, US officials told Rooters. "I can confirm that approximately 50 US military personnel are visiting al-Asad (air base)," said Colonel Patrick Ryder, a front man at the US military's Central Command. Posted by: trailing wife 2014-11-11 |
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