Obama gives OK to adding 1,500 troops in Iraq

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama authorized on Friday a broad expansion of the U.S. military mission in Iraq that could boost the total number of American troops there to 3,100 and spread advisory teams and trainers across the country, including into Anbar province where fighting with Islamic State militants has been fierce.

The president’s decision to escalate the U.S. effort in Iraq comes just three days after midterm elections that were bruising for Democrats and amid persistent arguments that more U.S. troops are needed to bolster the struggling Iraqi forces. In particular, the Iraqi government, members of Congress and others have called for troops in Anbar in western Iraq, where extremists have been slaughtering men, women and children.

Obama authorized the Pentagon to send up to 1,500 more troops to Iraq, adding to the 1,600 previously allowed. There are currently about 1,400 there.

The plans are all contingent on Congress approving his nearly $5.6 billion request to fund the expanded mission. The troops will not be able to deploy until legislation passes and the president signs it.

Congress hopes to complete the defense policy bill in the post-election, pre-holiday session and will consider the Iraq funding along with the administration’s request for billions more for military operations overseas. Lawmakers are still pressing the White House for additional details on how the money would be spent.

Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said the military will set up several sites across Iraq to train nine Iraqi army brigades and three peshmerga brigades, which are made up of Iraqi Kurdish forces.

The U.S. troops will not be in combat roles but will train Iraqi forces in protected locations around the country. Until now, U.S. troops have largely been confined to Baghdad and Irbil, including two operations centers in those cities. Of the 1,500 troops, Kirby said about 630 would be used for the advisory teams, including support and security forces, and the rest would be for the training mission.