Obama weighs boosting military trainers in Iraq

[unhappycamper]

http://www.dw.de/obama-weighs-boosting-military-trainers-in-iraq/a-18506410

The United States is close to approving the deployment of more troops and training personnel to Iraq to fight the "Islamic State." The White House has called also for Iraq to do more to fight the militant group.

Obama weighs boosting military trainers in Iraq
10.06.2015

US President Barack Obama could give his final approval on the plan as early as Wednesday, according to media reports.

While most figures put the number at around 500 soldiers, some reports have put the number at closer to 1,000, depending on training requirements.

The White House has confirmed only that it is considering "a range of options to accelerate the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces," including the deployment of more troops.

The recent losses of several key cities in Iraq have put more pressure of Obama's ongoing offensive against the terrorist group "Islamic State" (IS). In May, the western city of Ramadi fell to insurgents, closely followed by Palmyra in Syria, despite continuing US airstrikes.

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More boots on the ground and more weapons to the Iraqis.

[jakeXT]

1. + contractors

Finally, as I pointed out recently, with each new U.S. troop deployed to Iraq, you should expect that at least one additional private military contractor will be sent to support them. Naturally, none of the White House or Pentagon proclamations about U.S. troops going to Iraq ever mention the contractors that go with them, because officials want to maintain the impression of a more limited U.S. military footprint and commitment. Yet, between June 2014 and today, the number of private military contractors has grown from between an estimated 1,700 to fully 6,300. That is just another troubling component of America’s growing and deepening commitment to Iraq’s security that interested readers might want to look into.

blogs.cfr.org/zenko/2015/06/11/deepening-the-u-s-military-commitment-in-iraq/