US troops may be heading to Kuwait

While on the campaign trail, Donald Trump enjoyed criticizing Obama for announcing military action in advance, but on Thursday, the White House did just that by stating that 400 more US troops were to be deployed to Syria, doubling the number already in the unstable nation.

The top general overseeing America’s wars told Congress Thursday that more US troops will likely be needed in Afghanistan to help train and advise Afghan forces, and left the door open to sending more USA forces into Iraq and Syria to fight the Islamic State.

The deployment of Marines is temporary, so they will leave Syria as soon as their support is no longer needed, the official said.

The United States is taking steps to try to avoid a conflict between Turkey and US -backed Kurdish forces, which Turkey views as terrorists, in Syria, the top USA commander overseeing American troops in the Middle East said on March 9, acknowledging the risk of a clash existed.

Those in favor of the move said having the reserve force located in Kuwait would provide the USA a greater capacity to respond to battlefield challenges. The websites of the Departments of Defense and State, as well as those of the Army and Marines, do not mention the actions.

“Some of those attacks are relatively low-priced to pull off and don’t require large numbers of people or necessarily a lot of resources, and so I think that is a different aspect of our fight against ISIS clearly than the one against their physical caliphate”. That is the estimated maximum range on many rounds fired from the M-777 howitzer.

With fulsome USA support, the Kurdish-led SDF will spearhead the offensive in Raqqa – a majority-Arab city.

The Marines’ arrival was the largest believed single movement of US troops into Syria at one time since the war against ISIS began more than two years ago, though there have been US Special Operations forces acting in Syria for some time now.

This is the second time in just over a year that a Marine artillery detachment has been deployed from a MEU in support of the ground fight against ISIS militants. It adds to around 500 USA military personnel already in Syria, Dorrian said.

And while Marine artillery is pummeling Raqqah, a team of Army rangers will be operating in the area to support the initiative. Dorian said the USA military has not seen “any evidence the (Kurdish force) is doing anything to threaten Turkey”. It was not part of Donald Trump’s promised revamped plan to defeat ISIS. Turkey has made it clear it prefers the us used Syrian rebel forces it has trained. Rather, they will be providing support to the already-present US troops and the SDF. The US troops in Manbij are trying to deter hostilities due to their visible presence, rather than the typical mission of training, advising and assisting local forces.

The Turkish-backed forces have yet to field a group large enough to tackle Raqqa and had a hard time in liberating Al Bab, which “was a much smaller problem set”, he said. In January, the USA military said ISIS was even moving its bureaucrats in anticipation of a campaign to reclaim the city.

Those 300 troops have been working with the SDF in fighting ISIS in northern and eastern Syria.

Adding to the tensions in the region: Last week, those Kurdish militias were displaced by Russian-backed forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

But despite the buildup of anti-ISIS forces and extensive planning, the actual offensive to retake Raqqa may still not be coming soon.

The American forces are supposed to do their work at the headquarters level, remaining behind the front lines.

A member of the Kurdish-backed YPG in Tal Samin, Syria, during an operation to isolate Raqqa on November 24, 2016. A coalition of Iraqi troops, Shiite militias, Kurdish Peshmerga, and others have liberated half the city from ISIS control while continuing the arduous push into the heart of the city.