A top White House spokesman said Monday that President Obama approved sending 560 more troops to Iraq solely for logistical purposes in order to help Iraqi security forces drive the Islamic State out of Mosul.
“The decision represents a following up on the successful efforts of Iraqi forces to continue to make progress against ISIL,” presidential press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters. “The idea is these new U.S. forces will be used to secure the airfield and get it up a running as a logistics hub.”
Earnest said the decision to send more troops to Iraq is “entirely consistent” with the strategy Obama laid out committing U.S. forces to support Iraqi forces in “taking the fight” to the Islamic State, and said, “part of that is offering assistance in logistics.”
Iraqi forces are expected to use the airfield near the town of Qayyarah as a logistics hub to enhance their ability to “encircle Mosul,” the second largest city in Iraq, and eventually “drive out” the terrorist group.
The decision, which Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced Monday during a visit to Baghdad, increases the cap on total U.S. troop numbers in Iraq from 4,087 to 4,647, which does not include U.S. service members in Iraq on temporary assignments.
The announcement came less than a week after Obama said he would leave 3,000 more troops in Afghanistan than originally planned, drawing down troops to 8,400 by the end of his administration, instead of the 5,500 that was scheduled. The president made that decision to help the Afghanistan government fight against the Taliban, as well as al Qaeda and a newer threat from the Islamic State in the country.
Last week, Obama said the security situation in Afghanistan remains “precarious.”
