Defense Sec: US Combat Troops Would ‘Americanize’ Conflict in Iraq, Syria

Pushing back against criticism of a stalled war against the Islamic State, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday the United States is ready to deploy more military advisors to Iraq, along with attack helicopters, to push the fight forward.

Carter said Iraqi army and counter-terrorism units were beginning to enter the city from multiple sides after months of frustrating delays.

Carter told the Senate Armed Services Committee that tough fighting remains ahead and if requested by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi (HY’-dahr ahl ah-BAH’-dee), the US will provide helicopters and advisers to help finish the job.

One of the main tasks for Iraqi forces is to clear the area of bombs planted by Daesh, a favored tactic of the militants that means they can kill security personnel and civilians long after they have withdrawn from an area.

Iraq’s military seized a neighborhood on the outskirts of the city center and raised the Iraqi flag over a facility that once housed an Iraqi military operations center before it fell to the Islamic State in May.

The U.S. advisors are not expected to engage in combat but their direct role closer to the front lines of a potential major battle indicates another escalation of U.S. involvement in the conflict in Iraq and Syria.

Senators emphasized that the recent San Bernardino attack should focus the US military’s attention on retaking Raqqa, ISIS’s de facto capital in Syria.

“They’re holding civilians as hostages, and as human shields, and so we want to do this in a very careful and deliberate way”, he said.

Carter’s remark on Wednesday was the latest sign of USA willingness to intensify its involvement in the fight against the IS, also known as ISIL.

Despite pressure from lawmakers, Carter said that he and Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have not recommended sending USA ground troops.

He acknowledged that IS “would love nothing more than a large presence of US forces on the ground in Iraq and Syria, so that they could have a call to jihad”.

According to the Guardian, Colonel Steve Warren, spokesman for the United States army command in Baghdad, informed reporters on the Pentagon that round 600 to 1,000 ISIS fighters had been inside Ramadi.

He pointed out that the U.N. Security Council, including Russian Federation, had approved resolutions to provide for delivery of humanitarian aid to Syrians, arguing that a no-fly zone could be enforced under the same resolutions.

“And just this past week, I personally reached out to my counterparts in 40 countries to ask them to contribute and, in many cases, contribute much more to enhancing the fight against ISIL”. She said it should be coupled with a ramping up of the effort to build indigenous ground forces in Iraq and Syria. The committee’s ranking member Sen.

“We can not give a specific time we will liberate the city”, said Mr al-Numani, adding that ISIS had “destroyed numerous bridges” over the river.

He said: “Daesh are mainly using motorcycles in their movements to avoid air strikes and have deployed suicide attackers in various parts of Ramadi”. Ramadi residents told CNN on Monday night that ISIS had set up additional checkpoints around the city to prevent people from fleeing.