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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsObama considers special forces to help in Iraq
The White House is considering sending a small number of American special forces soldiers to Iraq in an urgent attempt to help the government in Baghdad slow the nation's rampant Sunni insurgency, U.S. officials said Monday.
While President Barack Obama has explicitly ruled out putting U.S. troops into direct combat in Iraq, the plan under consideration suggests he would be willing to send Americans into a collapsing security situation for training and other purposes.
Three U.S. officials familiar with ongoing discussions said the potential of sending special forces to Iraq is high on a list of military options that are being considered.
It's not clear how quickly the special forces could arrive in Iraq. It's also unknown whether they would remain in Baghdad or be sent to the nation's north, where the al-Qaida-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has overrun several cities in the worst threat to the Shiite-led government since U.S. troops left in 2011.
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http://news.yahoo.com/obama-considers-special-forces-help-iraq-194937458.html
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quinnox
(20,600 posts)The people do not want to get involved in another military conflict. What happens when our troops get involved or ambushed in a fire fight or blown up by an IED, we will have to send more troops and it will start again!
MisterP
(23,730 posts)morningfog
(18,115 posts)over the weekend and are there now. Indeed, there are already boots on the ground in Iraq.
bigtree
(86,008 posts). . . truly a betrayal of every reason he gave for leaving.
amandabeech
(9,893 posts)Obama and Kerry should not let neo-con howls pull us back into this mess.
Get our people out. The opposing sides have been spoiling for a fight for some time. This is going to continue to happen in Iraq until the Iraqis and their respective allies have exhausted themselves.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)there for ground intelligence and airstrike preparation)--I will say, that the reason they are doing this is because of how well-organized and well-funded this ISIS group is (and it may now be beyond control of Saudi Arabia and Qatar--kind of a Frankenstein). They see an equal or worse group than the Taliban/AQ taking large areas of Iraq and Syria, and they don't want Iraq to be a new base of jihad/terror operations--and let's be honest, they don't want the oil flow and the economy to be disrupted, either. I think this is what's on their minds.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)He did not like the terms Obama wanted for keeping there.
so we left.
Except for that unknown number inside the green Zone.
that huge behemouth of a small city we spent a fortune on
And we parked a LOT of troops just over the border from Iraq, in Jordan, so we could train Iraqi soldiers.
And store drones and troops.
reminds me of that scene in What About bob? where Dreyfuss is having a meltdown, pointing out to his wife that Bob hasn't left....Bob NEVER leaves...and throws the front door open to reveal...Bob, on the front porch, looking wistful.
We should just re-name our Gov't.... Bob.
