The White House said Tuesday that the death of a Navy SEAL near the front lines of the fight against the Islamic State in northern Iraq does not mean U.S. forces are moving into a leading combat role in that country.
“The president has made clear time and time again what their mission is,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters. “Iraqi forces must fight for their own country. U.S. forces cannot be a substitute for those Iraqi forces.”
The U.S. military support, he said, comes in the form of offering advice and assistance and will remain that way throughout the rest of Obama’s time in office.
“They can count on the support of the U.S and they can count on the nations that have signed up for the fight against ISIL,” he said, using the White House’s preferred term for the terrorist group. “But ultimately, it is Iraqi forces on the front lines.”
The White House extended its condolences to the family of the SEAL killed near Irbil Tuesday when Islamic State fighters broke through a Peshmerga front line. Earnest said that attack was immediately repelled.
“Everyone at the White House, including the first family, extends our condolences to the family of the individual killed in Iraq … This service member’s death reminds us of the risks our brave men and women in uniform face” every day, he said.
“What is true is Iraq and Syria are dangerous places and our men and women in uniform who are engaged in the mission to offer training advice and assistance for forces fighting in their own country are doing dangerous work … We owe them a deep debt of gratitude,” Earnest continued.
The SEAL is the third U.S. service member to make “the ultimate sacrifice” in Iraq since Obama started resending troops there to help Iraqi forces fight the Islamic State in 2014, he said.
