Top Dem: Special forces deployed against ISIS ‘not enough’

Carter told the House Armed Services Committee that over time, the special operations force will be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence and capture IS leaders.

A new force of special operations troops being deployed by the United States to Iraq will likely number around 100, U.S. Army Colonel Steve Warren said on Wednesday.

Some members of Congress, as well as defense officials who spoke privately to U.S. News, expressed surprise at the suddenness of the announcement and lack of any prior notice that Carter would publicly unveil it on Monday.

“We will continue to work very, very closely with our Iraqi partners on exactly who would be deployed, where they would be deployed, what kinds of missions people would undertake, how they would support Iraqi efforts to degrade and destroy ISIL”, Kerry said, using an acronym for Islamic State.

“The Iraqi government stresses that any military operation or presence of any foreign force, special or not, in any place in Iraq can not be done without its approval and coordination with it”, the statement said. Kerry repeated Obama’s argument from a day ago that no peace in Syria would be possible while its president, Bashar Assad, remained in power. It will primarily operate as a joint force with other countries, but could also conduct missions with only Americans.

Iraq could be asked to take any Iraqi citizens captured, but if there are Syrians or foreign fighters captured by the U.S.it’s not clear what will happen to them.

“It’s the same mission, not a different one but we need to provide greater assistance in ways that meet with the Iraqi authorities consent and needs”, he said. In May, a Delta Force raid in Syria killed IS financier Abu Sayyaf, yielded intelligence about the group’s structure and finances, and his wife, held in Iraq, has been cooperating with interrogators.

Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the top Democrat on the committee, said the group needs to be defeated, not just contained.

Abadi did not directly reject the deployment, but did insist that any operations must be coordinated with the Iraqi government.

“If all we have is Western aggression, we will never win”, he said.

“I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria”, the president said.

He also reiterated the USA view that ending Syria’s war is the most important step in defeating the militants and added that Russian Federation could be an “extremely constructive player” in Syria. Dunford said that about 43 percent of the revenue that IS derives from oil has been affected by the recent strikes and that the US also is targeting cement and other industries from which IS draws funds. “They’ll really help strengthen the border… between Iraq and Syria”.