DEVELOPMENTS
• Al-Qaida-linked fighters captured at least three villages from Western-backed rebels in northwestern Syria on Friday as the militants continued their push to assert control over an area once held by more moderate groups. The Nusra Front’s recent advances have exposed the weakness of more moderate factions, which the U.S. hopes to forge into an effective fighting force against President Bashar Assad’s troops. In the past week, the al-Qaida affiliate has been overrunning strongholds in Idlib once held by two prominent rebel factions armed and trained by the United States, the Syrian Revolutionaries Front and Harakat Hazm.
• Syrian troops battled rebels near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and the Lebanon border in clashes that killed and wounded dozens, activists and state media said. The Britain-based Observatory said the fighting, which began on Thursday, killed 26 pro-government forces and 14 rebels and jihadi fighters. The clashes lasted into early Friday, it said.
— Associated Press
The president’s decision to escalate the U.S. effort in Iraq comes just three days after Democrats suffered major defeats in midterm elections where Republicans questioned whether Obama is doing enough to bolster struggling Iraqi forces. In particular, there have been calls to send troops to the western Anbar province, where extremists have been slaughtering civilians.
Obama authorized the Pentagon to send 1,500 troops to Iraq in addition to the 1,600 previously allowed. He also is asking Congress for more than $5 billion to fund the fight. Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said the military will set up several training sites across Iraq to instruct 12 Iraqi brigades, and establish two operations centers where small advisory teams can work with Iraqi forces at the headquarters and brigade levels.
A senior military official said one of those centers will be in Anbar Province, and that it is likely the bulk of the additional troops will be in Iraq by the end of the year. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Kirby said the new changes were based on a request from the Iraqi officials, the assessment of military commanders on the progress and as part of a plan “to defend key areas and go on the offensive against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant,” another name for the militant organization.
The U.S. troops will not be in combat roles, conducting the training in protected locations around the country. Until now, U.S. troops have largely been confined to Baghdad and Irbil.
The plan is part of a $5.6 billion request to Congress and came just after Obama met with congressional leaders Friday. That funding would cover the overseas military operations and other military equipment and requirements to combat the Islamic State militants, who have seized control of large swaths of Iraq and Syria.
The U.S. has been launching airstrikes on Islamic State troops and facilities in Iraq and Syria for weeks as part of an effort to give Iraqi forces the time and space to mount a more effective offensive. Early on, the Islamic State group gained ground across Iraq, as local Iraqi units threw down their weapons and fled or joined the insurgents. Lately, however, with the aid of the U.S. strikes, it has suffered a number of losses in Iraq, where it is fighting government forces, peshmerga and Shiite militias aided by Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah group.
Last week, Iraqi forces recaptured the town of Jurf al-Sakher. The Islamic State also lost Rabia, Mahmoudiyah and Zumar, a string of towns near the Syrian border, last month. Besieged Iraqi troops have also managed to maintain control of Iraq’s largest oil refinery outside the town of Beiji north of Baghdad, despite numerous attempts by the Islamic State group to capture it.
Obama's funding request, to be delivered to Capitol Hill next week, comes on top of an earlier $58.6 billion request for overseas military operations in the war on terror. It's expected to be addressed in the upcoming lame duck session of Congress. Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said Friday that he has "long been concerned that the president has underfunded our combat operations against terrorists."
He said he will give the funding request fair consideration, but, using an acronym for the Islamic State, added, “I remain concerned that the president’s strategy to defeat ISIL is insufficient. I would urge the president to reconsider his strategy and clearly explain how this additional funding supports a new direction. Such clarity is more likely to find swift congressional approval.”
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