(MENAFN- QNA) The decision to nearly double the number of American advisers deployed to Iraq "signals a new phase" in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), US President Barack Obama said Sunday, but US troops will still stay out of combat operations.
In an interview with (CBS News), Obama said "Rather than just try to halt ISIS's momentum, we're now in a position to start going on some offense. The airstrikes have been very effective in degrading ISIS's capabilities and slowing the advance that they were making. Now what we need is ground troops, Iraqi ground troops, that can start pushing them back."
Instead, he explained, the new deployment of up to 1,500 soldiers will work at four training centers with members of the US-led coalition to train Iraqi soldiers and assist them with the strategy and logistics to fight ISIS on the ground. When they begin to go on the offense against ISIS, the US will provide close air support, he added.
He also said that US commanders have said that there will be fewer troops over time, not, less, as coalition members begin to help with the train and assist effort for local forces.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.