Latest in Syria and ISIS

A key Democrat says President Obama’s deployment of special forces to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) won’t be enough and warns time is running out to defeat the group.

“We do not need foreign ground combat forces on Iraqi land”, Abadi said in a statement, which comes after Washington hinted that it plans to extend anti-Daesh military operations on the ground in both Iraq and Syria.

Naseer Nouri, an official in Iraq’s Defense Ministry, told Bloomberg News that only limited operations would be approved, adding, “A permanent presence of USA forces in Iraq is rejected as it violates the security agreement between the two countries”.

“We’ll continue to work very, very strongly with our Iraqi partners on exactly who would be deployed, where they’d be deployed, what kinds of assignments people would tackle, how they would support Iraqi attempts to degrade and ruin ISIL”.

“You don’t know at night who’s going to be coming through the window, and that’s the sensation we want all of ISIL’s leadership and followers to have”, he told lawmakers.

“Frankly, I think we’re going to ultimately see that more is going to have to be done”, he said.

The War Powers Resolution of 1973 requires that the president seek authorization from Congress within 60 days if sending USA troops into a conflict.

“These special operators will over time be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence, and capture Daesh leaders”, he said.

“For Abadi to give a green light for the American troops to deploy in Iraq would not be a shot in the foot”, said another lawmaker from the Shi’ite alliance.

“The government is not allowed to authorize a deployment of American troops in Iraq even if it they are expeditionary or intelligence gathering forces”, said Hakim al-Zamili, a leading Shi’ite politician from the Sadrists, a movement founded by anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, the nation’s top uniformed officer who testified alongside Carter, said there could be more troops deployed – beyond the 3,500 – in the months ahead.

Carter’s comments came in remarks made to the House Armed Services Committee in Washington on Tuesday.

The official also said it was unclear if that number of personnel would fall under the current authorized cap of 3,550 USA troops in Iraq or might lead the White House to authorize a larger number of troops to serve in a training and advise and assist role in Iraq.

At least 1,200 civilians are still residing in Ramadi, according to an Anbar provincial council member, who said few have left the city since the leaflets notified them of the offensive. “We are using the might of the finest fighting force the world has ever known”.

He said that will improve intelligence and generate more targets for attacks.

This new force will take the fight to ISIS, in an effort to secure the border between Iraq and Syria and hunt down Islamic State leaders in raids. Those militias have done most of the fighting against the Islamic State and have exercised an increasing influence over the Iraqi military.

While Obama has previously called for the eventual repeal of both authorizations and for the passage of an ISIS-specific one, he maintains that the 2001 and 2002 AUMF provide the necessary legal cover for operations now taking place in Iraq and Syria.