Obama’s Iraq incrementalism is back
By Jennifer Rubin September 26
A fighter of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) holds an ISIL flag and a weapon in Mosul, Iraq, in June 2014. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
Last week news outlets reported that the Pentagon had requested another 500 boots on the ground in the fight in Iraq against the Islamic State:
The new deployment, if approved by the White House, would assist Iraqi and coalition forces in preparing for the battle to capture the northern city, the extremist group’s last major stronghold in Iraq. . . .
The new U.S. forces would increase the number of American personnel officially deployed to Iraq from 4,400 to about 4,900. The Pentagon also maintains up to 1,500 additional U.S. forces that it doesn’t acknowledge as part of its Iraq force, most at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad or on temporary assignments. The new deployment would bring the overall U.S. presence to as high as 6,400.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2016/09/26/obamas-iraq-incrementalism-is-back/?utm_term=.8b766c0c582c
