US to Send More Troops to Iraq

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US to Send 560 More Troops to Iraq

Wall Street Journal

- ‎5 hours ago‎

WASHINGTON—The U.S. will send an additional 560 troops to Iraq as Iraqi forces eye a shift toward Mosul, the Islamic State extremist group's last significant holding in the country, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in Baghdad on Monday.

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U.S. to Send 560 More Troops to Iraq

Defense Secretary Ash Carter says troops to help establish a retaken air base as a staging hub to help recapture Mosul from Islamic State Militants

ENLARGE

Visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, left, shakes hands with Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi at the Ministry of Defense in Baghdad on Monday. Photo: Associated Press

By

Felicia Schwartz

Updated July 11, 2016 1:09 p.m. ET

8 COMMENTS

WASHINGTON—The U.S. will send an additional 560 troops to Iraq as Iraqi forces eye a shift toward Mosul, the Islamic State extremist group’s last significant holding in the country, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in Baghdad on Monday.
The U.S. decision to add troops follows Iraqi forces’ retaking of the Qayara air base, about 50 miles south of Mosul. U.S. and Iraqi forces see the site as a key staging ground for an offensive on Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, which remains under Islamic State control.

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“With the retaking of Qayara West airfield, the Iraqi Security Forces have once again demonstrated a serious will to fight,” Mr. Carter said in Iraq. “I congratulate them on their recent successes and reaffirm that the United States, along with our coalition partners, will continue to do all we can to support Iraq’s effort to serve ISIL a lasting defeat,” he said using an acronym for Islamic State.

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The deployment announced Monday will bring the number of U.S. military personnel on official assignment to Iraq to 4,647. Including support troops, embassy personnel and those on temporary missions, the new assignments mean there will be more than 5,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.
The Pentagon said the additional troops will help Iraqi forces at the recently retaken airfield, including providing infrastructure and logistical support. Coalition forces will also assist the Kurdish Peshmerga as they approach Mosul from northern Iraq. U.S. and Iraqi forces have discussed retaking the key city from Islamic State for the past two years, but plans to do so haven’t gotten under way. Officials provided no timetable on Monday.
Islamic State has suffered a series of military losses in Iraq over the last year. At the height of its power in 2014, it controlled nearly a third of the country, but now Mosul is its last significant Iraqi stronghold.
U.S.-backed forces in Iraq have wrested Ramadi, Fallujah, Hit, Tikrit and other territory from extremist fighters, prompting the group to launch a wave of terrorist attacks and suicide bombings in the country.
Write to Felicia Schwartz at Felicia.Schwartz@wsj.com