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 The plan to expand the 3,100-strong U.S. contingent in Iraq and
open a new operations center closer to the fighting in Anbar
province marks an adjustment in strategy for Obama, who has faced
mounting pressure to do more to blunt the momentum of the
insurgents.
But with Obama sticking to his refusal to send troops into combat or
to the front lines, the White House announcement failed to silence
critics who say the limited U.S. military role in the conflict is
not enough to turn the tide of battle.
U.S. officials hope that a strengthened American presence on the
ground in Anbar will help the Iraqi military devise and carry out a
counter-attack to retake the provincial capital Ramadi, which
insurgents seized last month in an onslaught that further exposed
the shortcomings of the Iraqi army.
The U.S. advisers, who will be injected into the heart of one of the
most hotly contested areas of the Islamic State campaign, will offer
tactical advice to Iraqi officers on how to conduct their
operations, the Pentagon said.
 A complex challenge for the U.S. troops, who will establish a
training hub at the Taqaddum military base only about 15 miles (25
km) from Ramadi, will be their outreach to Sunni tribal fighters,
many of whom do not trust the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad.
U.S. officials want to integrate them into the Iraqi army and reduce
its reliance on Iran-backed Shi'ite militias who have also joined
the fight against Islamic State.
Obama decided on the new troop deployment in response to a request
from Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, the White House said. The
two leaders met while attending the G7 summit in Germany earlier
this week.
"To improve the capabilities and effectiveness of partners on the
ground, the president authorized the deployment of up to 450
additional U.S. military personnel to train, advise and assist Iraqi
Security Forces," the White House said in a statement.
Obama also ordered "the expedited delivery of essential equipment
and materiel" to Iraqi forces, including Kurdish peshmerga troops
and Sunni fighters operating under Iraqi command, the White House
said.
It made the announcement two days after Obama said the United States
did not yet have a complete strategy for training Iraqi security
forces to regain land lost to Islamic State fighters, who have
seized a third of Iraq over the past year in a campaign marked by
mass killings and beheadings.
The fall of Ramadi last month drew harsh U.S. criticism of the Iraqi
military's retreat from the city. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said
that Iraqi forces showed “no will to fight”.
SEEKING TO SPEED UP FLOW OF TRAINEES
U.S. forces have already conducted training at the al-Asad military
base in western Anbar, and the new site will focus more on advising
Iraqi forces on operations in what one U.S. official described as an
effort to "buck up the ranks".The Pentagon said the first of the new
troops will arrive at Taqaddum, in eastern Anbar, within a few days
from forces already in the country. The base will also be used to
help guide Iraqi efforts to reclaim Fallujah, a nearby city the
militants have held for more than a year, U.S. officials said.
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Still, Obama's new plan stops short of some of the more assertive
steps demanded by his conservative critics at home, such as putting
U.S. spotters in forward positions to call in air strikes or
embedding American advisers with Iraqi forces in combat.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said Obama's plan
to send additional U.S. military personnel to train Iraqi forces was
a "step in the right direction," but not a sufficient strategy to
defeat Islamic State.
"It's clear that our training mission alone has not been enough,"
the Republican lawmaker said.
John McCain, Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services
Committee, said: “I remain deeply concerned that this new deployment
is disconnected from any coherent strategy to defeat ISIL."
With the latest adjustments, Obama is deviating only slightly from
his policy of relying on a bombing campaign and local forces without
committing large-scale U.S. troops. His options are hemmed in by a
deep aversion to seeing America drawn back into Iraq after pulling
out U.S. forces in 2011.
Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser, said the
president recognized the "inherent risk" of attack that the new U.S.
contingent could face in volatile Anbar and insisted that security
precautions were being taken.
U.S. officials took pains to insist that Wednesday's announcement
did not amount to an overhaul of Obama's anti-Islamic State
strategy, but they left open the possibility of further unspecified
steps.
"The president hasn't ruled out any additional steps," Rhodes told
reporters on a conference call. "He's always open to considering
refinements."
(Additional reporting by David Alexander, Jeff Mason, Warren
Strobel, David Lawder and Patricia Zengerle in Washington, Phil
Stewart in Jerusalem; Editing by Alan Crosby and Grant McCool)
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