The Pentagon says American military personnel will begin advising and assisting Iraq troops at the battalion level, putting U.S. troops closer to the front lines as Iraqi forces continue to prepare for an assault on the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter made the announcement Monday during a brief stop in Baghdad for consultations with Prime Minister Haider al Abadi and other Iraqi leaders about ways to step up the pressure against the Islamic State group.
In addition to authorizing deployment of 217 additional American troops, bringing the total of in-country to just over 4,000, Carter said the U.S. will also “make available” Apache attack helicopters to back up the Iraqi security forces who will eventually attempt to liberate Mosul from the grip of the Islamic State.
Up to now, U.S. advisers generally helped Iraq forces plan operations from the relative safety of division headquarters, far from the front lines. But more recently U.S. troops have been embedded with Iraqi forces, closer to combat.
Last month, Marine Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin died when Islamic State fighters fired rockets into an artillery outpost near Makhmour, just south of Mosul.
At the Pentagon, officials downplayed the danger to U.S. troops who will increasingly be in the line of fire.
“The risk is not new. The potential for combat is not new. What is different here is as they move towards Mosul, there is a need to stay geographically proximate to the Iraqi Forces that they are advising and assisting,” said Capt. Jeff Davis, a Defense Department Spokesman.
The announced deployments bring the authorized troop level for U.S. forces in Iraq to 4,087, up from 3,870. But the cap is a bit of a fiction because it doesn’t count all U.S. forces.
Temporary deployments, such as the Marines sent to Makhmour, or U.S. troops assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Bagdad, bring the actual number of U.S. forces closer to 5,000.
The offer of AH-64 Apaches is the second time the Pentagon has suggested U.S. attack helicopters could facilitate an Iraqi ground offensive.
The U.S. made a similar offer when Iraq forces were preparing to enter Ramadi, but the Iraqi government rebuffed the proposal, insisting the additional firepower was not needed.
The Pentagon also announced the deployment of rocket-propelled artillery units known as High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, and $415 million to fund the operations of the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, who are seen as the most effective fighting force on the Iraqi battlefield.
The Pentagon characterized the latest moves as “first steps” in a broader plan to accelerate the counter-Islamic State campaign.
“Even as we ask more of ourselves, we are going to ask more of our coalition partners,” Carter said in Baghdad.
