U.S. to deploy small number of special forces to Syria in advisory role: sources

[rangerrebew]

 
US Spokesman in Iraq: 'Of Course it's Combat'
 
Stars and Stripes | Oct 29, 2015 | by Corey Dickstein

WASHINGTON -- U.S. troops in Iraq are in combat.

That’s what the Baghdad-based spokesman for the American-led, anti-Islamic State coalition told reporters Wednesday.

Pentagon officials have hesitated to label the role of U.S. forces against the militants in Iraq and Syria as combat in the week since Army Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler was killed in a firefight during a raid on an Islamic State prison compound outside of Hawijah in the Kirkuk province. But Army Col. Steve Warren, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, was more direct Wednesday, speaking with reporters at the Pentagon through video conference.

“We’re in combat,” Warren said of the roughly 3,500 U.S. troops in Iraq. “Of course it is; that’s why we all carry guns, that’s why we all get combat patches when we leave here, that’s why we all received imminent danger pay. So, of course it’s combat.”

In June, as President Barack Obama announced he would send more U.S. troops into Iraq’s heavily contested Anbar province, he emphasized “American forces will not be returning to combat in Iraq.”

The raid in which Wheeler was killed Oct. 22 has raised questions of mission creep more than one year into Operation Inherent Resolve. Wheeler was the first U.S. service member to die in Iraq since the American withdrawal in 2011.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter has said more such raids could be conducted, but they did not “represent us assuming a combat role.”

Warren said raids with “capable, willing and able” partners should be expected. But a return to full-scale ground combat operations such as the United States conducted in Iraq between 2003 and 2009 would not happen.

“You’re not going to see … a large presence of U.S. forces out there at every level with the entire Iraqi army,” he said. “… We’re talking about raids, a very specific term -- a combat action that is conducted to achieve a certain objective and then the forces are immediately removed. That’s a very key doctrinal point that’s important to make.”

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/10/29/us-spokesman-in-iraq-of-course-its-combat.html

[flowers]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/30/us-mideast-crisis-syria-usa-idUSKCN0SO1VD20151030

U.S. President Barack Obama plans to deploy a small number of special operations forces to Syria to advise moderate rebels, U.S. sources said, a step he has long resisted to avoid getting dragged into another war in the Middle East.

The number of special operations troops was likely to be in the range of 20 to 30, said one U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity. A second source confirmed the plan but declined to provide a number.

The sources said the move, expected to be announced later on Friday, reflected a wider strategy of strengthening moderate rebels in Syria even as Washington intensifies its efforts to find a diplomatic solution to end to the four-and-a-half year Syrian civil war.

moderate rebels,

=isis. White House helping their pals Isis again. Time to re-arm isis it seems.

[mountaineer]

More American blood on Obama's hands, I suppose.

[Scottftlc]

They are human shields for ISIS for Russian bombing. Obama wants an international incident to stymie the Russians...they are going there so that someone will die "accidentally" at Russian hands.

[flowers]

They are human shields for ISIS for Russian bombing. Obama wants an international incident to stymie the Russians...they are going there so that someone will die "accidentally" at Russian hands.

That wouldn't stop the Russians. Teamobama has been told by Putin it is illegal for our troops to be in Syria. bam just wants to kill off more of our military so he can replace them with his type of people. Also he gets to re-arm isis.