U.S. Starts Moving Forces To Embattled Iraq

US Starts Moving Forces To Embattled Iraq

As a first response to the violent situation in Iraq where al-Qaeda linked terrorist group The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have seized an important part of northern Iraq along with oil fields and the second largest city, 300 armed U.S. Troops have been positioned to protect U.S. assets.

Meanwhile United States President Barack Obama has still not made a clear decision in regards to how the situation should be handled further. Options for dealing with the fast advancement of The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant range from airstrikes and intel support to sending a contingent of special forces.

President Obama met with his national security councillors this Monday to clarify any strategy in regards to the situation. He also made clear that any form of military support from the United States is dependent on Iraq’s will to perform some long awaited political reforms.

President Obama also announced congress that up to 300 troops will be sent to Iraq in order to provide security and support for all U.S. personnel and the U.S. embassy located in Baghdad. Of the 300 troops, 170 soldiers have already arrived and are armed for combat, even though Barack Obama insisted that he does not want U.S. troops to be involved in direct fighting.

An extra 100 troops are also on standby in Kuwait and could provide logistic support, security or airfield management.

Posted by James Fried on Thursday June 19 2014, 2:24 AM EST. Ref: nytimes. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0