US forces could begin working alongside Iraqi troops in the military campaign to defeat the Islamic State extremists, the Pentagon warned this week.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress the three-month old war with ISIS was ‘just beginning’ and American troops could play a key role in the next phase of the conflict.
Hagel and Dempsey were pressing for Congressional approval for $5.6 billion dollars which President Barack Obama wants to expand the US mission in Iraq. The administration is also pressing for reauthorization of its plan to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels when that mandate expires on December 11.
Hagel said that air strikes and military advances by coalition forces had so far reversed or stalled IS advances in the region, but that an effort to move into IS-held Mosul or to restore the border with Syria would require more complex operations.
He told the House Armed Services Committee: “I’m not predicting at this point that I would recommend that those forces in Mosul and along the border would need to be accompanied by US forces, but we’re certainly considering it.”
Hagel said the US currently had a ‘modest force’ in Iraq now serving as advisers and trainers, adding: “Any expansion of that, I think, would be equally modest. I just don’t foresee a circumstance when it would be in our interest to take this fight on ourselves with a large military contingent.”
Mr Obama has said the operation will not involve US ground troops, but forces present to accompany Iraqi forces and to call in or direct air strikes or other close air support.
US and coalition forces have conducted about 900 air strikes in Iraq and Syria as they contend with a core militant force of 15,000 to 18,000 fighters.
Mr Hagel said: “This pressure is having an effect on potential ISIL recruits and collaborators – striking a blow to morale and recruitment. We know that. Our intelligence is very clear on that. And as Iraqi forces build strength, the tempo and intensity of our coalition’s air campaign will accelerate in tandem.”
He used the term ISIL, an acronym for the group’s former name, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Dempsey told the House committee yesterday that the US strategy on IS also depended on how well new Iraqi prime minister Haidar al-Abadi could rebuild his military and bridge the country’s deep sectarian and tribal divisions.
He added: “One of the important assumptions about this campaign is that the Iraqi government does establish its intent to create a government of national unity. I can predict for you right now, if that doesn’t happen, then the Iraqi security forces will not hold together.”