Special Forces being sent to fight ISIS

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter had announced a special expeditionary force to Iraq – and hinted more forces could be sent to Syria – after more than a year of US-led coalition air strikes in both countries.

The Iraqi government “stresses that any military operation or the deployment of any foreign forces – special or not – in any place in Iraq can not happen without its approval and coordination and full respect of Iraqi sovereignty”, he said.

The force is expected to be permanently based in Iraq, but it will also conduct ground combat raids against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, NBC News reported.

Carter said the USA is constantly looking to do more in this fight but the world must do the same.

One US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the force may number around 200 troops including support personnel, with only several dozen likely to conduct operations.

When asked about the president’s comment, Warren said there’s a distinction between combat raids and ground combat like the invasion of Iraq.

USA special operations forces headed into Iraq and Syria may be given authorities to capture ISIS terrorists, and interrogate them for intelligence, even though there is no current framework for where such individuals could be held and questioned, according to two US officials. We have not contained ISIL. We have the long reach that no one else has”, Carter said, adding that the task force “puts everybody on notice in Syria that you don’t know at night who is going to be coming in the window.

“The prime minister has called for an increase in weapons, training, and support from global partners, while reiterating that there is no need for foreign ground combat troops”, it said.

But “we confirm that Iraq has enough men and resolve to defeat Daesh and other similar criminal groups”, he said, using another acronym for the Islamic State group.

There are about 3,300 US troops in Iraq.

The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, also testified before the Congressional Armed Services Committee. “So we’re going to go where the enemy is and we’re going to conduct operations where they most effectually degrade the capabilities of the enemy”.

Special operations forces could soon be heading to Iraq, to help our allies fight ISIS.

In October, U.S. special operations troops and Iraqi forces raided a compound in northern Iraq, freeing about 70 Iraqi prisoners who were facing execution. “That creates a virtuous cycle of better intelligence, which generates more targets, more raids, more momentum”. The force’s operations in Syria would be separate from the scheduled deployment of up to 50 special operations forces that will soon be deployed to northeastern Syria.

He also noted that the the new special-forces units will not be used as ground controllers, or “spotters” for coalition airstrikes against Islamic State installations.

“The territory under ISIL’s control has shrunk, that is a fact”, Carter said, noting that Kurds are now controlling those areas in Iraq and Syria.