Obama may send more troops to Iraq

At a recent new briefing Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joe Dunford said Obama will decide soon whether to accept proposals to increase the number of ground troops in Iraq.

Dunford claims that nominally 3,800 US troops are in Iraq now. However, this number does not cover those who are in Iraq only on a "temporary" basis. Pentagon officials concede that the actual number deployed is closer to 5,000. According to a U.S. diplomatic deal with Iraq, the US will maintain only a total of 3,870 troops in Iraq at any one time. However, the U.S. seems to be increasing the number of troops for the last few months without changing the deal or officially counting more.

On March 19 Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin was killed in an Islamic State rocket attack on Fire Base Bell in northern Iraq. Until Cardin was killed military officials had not acknowledged that the base existed. It was part of the temporary deployment of added troops and was created just several days before the attack. It was near the front lines and the Iraqi Army division headquarters in the town of Makhmour.

General Dunford has brought new proposals to Defense Secretary Ash Carter who will then discuss them with the president. In a press briefing Dunford said: “We have a series of recommendations that we will be discussing with the president in the coming weeks to further enable our support for the Iraqi security forces. The secretary and I both believe that there will be an increase to the U.S. forces in Iraq in the coming weeks but that decision hasn’t been made."The extra troops would help the Iraqi forces in a major offensive to be launched against the Islamic State to retake Mosul.

Defense Minister Carter had told Congress in December that the administration was willing to send more combat advisers and helicopters to Iraq if the Iraqi government requested the help. At the time, the Iraqi army declined the offer because several Shiite militias objected to any additional US presence. We should know in a matter of weeks if the US is intending to become even more involved in the battle against the Islamic State in Iraq.

US bill would allow sending arms direct to Kurds and Sunni tribes bypassing Iraqi government

Originally the bill recognized the Kurds and Sunni tribal forces as "countries" so that arms could be sent directly to those groups, and not requiring they go through the central Iraqi government.

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However, the US House Armed Services Committee removed that description in the bill but still took the position that some of the aid to Iraq should go directly to Kurdish forces and Sunni tribes fighting the Islamic State in Iraq. The bill was also amended to remove a section that would send the aid only on condition that the central government distance itself from certain Shia militias fighting alongside the Iraqi troops. The committee voted 60 to 2 to send the bill to the House for consideration in May. A draft bill would authorize aid of $715 million for the battle against the Islamic State in Iraq called Operation Inherent Resolve. One quarter of those funds are stipulated to be directly provided to Kurdish and Sunni forces. The bill goes even further:The bill stipulates that US support will depend on the Iraqi government’s actions in reintegrating minorities in Iraq and on building political reconciliations. If those conditions are not met, the monetary allocations for Kurdish and Sunni forces will go up to 60 percent.

The Iraqi Ministry of Defense immediately denounced the proposal. Defense Minister, Khalid Al-Obeidi, told Rudaw:

We will reject the arming of the Peshmerga directly by the US. Arming the Peshmerga, Sunnis and Shiites must be conducted by the central government, not by the US.The bill was scheduled to be debated and voted on Thursday April 30. Up to now, the practice has been to funnel all weapons provided by the U.S. through the central government.

The bill has brought a sharp rebuke from Moqtada al-Sadr the anti-U.S. cleric and Iraqi nationalist. He had withdrawn from politics early last year. He has been uneasy about the U.S. return to Iraq but also fiercely opposes the Islamic State. He has also spoken out against Shiite revenge actions against Sunnis in areas that have been retaken from the Islamic State. Of the present bill Sadr warned:“In the event of approving this bill by the US Congress, we will find ourselves obliged to unfreeze the military wing and start targeting American interests in Iraq – even abroad."

Sadr's militia was disbanded after the US occupation of Iraq ended. US law obliges military aid to a friendly country to be made through the government. Both al-Sadr and President Barack Obama find themselves on the same side both opposed to direct funding of the Kurds or Sunni groups.

US Special Forces reported to join Kurds in Iraq battle

Although the US insists that there will be no boots on the ground in Iraq, it already has over one thousand troops there. The operation of these special forces is usually kept well hidden.

Even in Syria where Obama supposedly has no troops special forces attempted unsuccessfully to rescue American journalist James Foley. On Tuesday, September 2, Obama announced that another 350 troops will be sent to Iraq to "beef up security". According to a White House statement: "The request he approved today will allow some previously deployed military personnel to depart Iraq, while at the same time providing a more robust, sustainable security force for our personnel and facilities in Baghdad," Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said that the new troops were not intended for combat but to bolster security both at the Baghdad embassy and support facilities. Perhaps there are concerns that the Islamic State will launch suicide or other attacks on the embassy located in the Green Zone of Baghdad.

 On Monday September 1, in an attack on the town of Zumar, US troops appeared to be fighting alongside Kurdish Peshmerga with backing by US air support. The Kurdish forces now have heavy equipment flown in from the US and Germany. Many civilians in Zumar and surrounding villages are fleeing the battle zone towards Erbil the capital of the Kurdish Regional Government. 

The battle for Zumar is described in detail in this Daily Beast article. A group from the Daily Beast were prevented from moving closer to the front lines at one point and in attempt to move forward they contacted officials both in Erbil and on the ground near Zumar: “Yes, we want to let you in, but we can’t,” said one high-level Kurdish government official. “We have visitors, you’ll see them,” he stated. As we tried to decipher his cryptic response our answer came: multiple armored Toyotas swept down the mountain, passing within feet of us. The Toyotas were packed with what appeared to be bearded Western Special Operations Forces. I watched the trucks pass and saw for myself the crews inside them. They didn’t wear any identifying insignia but they were visibly Western and appeared to match all the visual characteristics of American special operations soldiers. The group claims that contacts in the Peshmerga leadership confirmed what had happened and said that both German and American forces were helping in the attack. When the Daily Beast contacted Pentagon officials a spokesperson for the US Central Command said: “There are no U.S. troops on the ground in or around Zumar.” The spokesperson did admit that one airstrike had been made by the US destroying several vehicles in Zumar area. 

By Monday evening Kurdish officials announced they were in full control of Zumar. The officials estimated 100 Islamic State fighters had been killed as well as 38 captured. The US Special Forces may also be involved in guiding US airstrikes to their targets. 

 Recently Obama set forth his objective in the fight against the Islamic State: "The bottom line is this, our objective is clear and that is to degrade and destroy (Islamic State) so that it's no longer a threat not just to Iraq but also the region and to the United States," While Obama is clearly depending for the most part on proxy forces in Iraq such as the Kurdish peshmerga and Iraqi security forces, US special forces appear to also be involved even at the front lines as well as providing security. Special forces will also need to be involved in Syria as well. It is only a matter of time before there will be US casualties in Iraq again and perhaps in Syria as well, adding to the costs of intervention.