US to send additional 250 troops to Syria

By Kasim Ileri

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama has authorized the deployment of 250 additional troops to Syria to help fight Daesh, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday.

The deployment includes “special operations forces, medical and logistics personnel,” Peter Cook said, noting that they would assist local Syrian forces fighting the militant group.

The announcement comes just weeks after the White House authorized the deployment of 217 additional special forces to Iraq.

Late last year, the U.S. deployed as many as 50 special forces to train and assist troops in northern Syria in the fight against Daesh.

“This new complement will build on the success of the 50 special operators previously deployed to Syria,” Cook said. “Those forces have improved our picture of the battlefield, made connections with local, capable forces and enhanced our targeting efforts in Syria. These new forces will expand those efforts and build on what has been working.”

According to the spokesman, leadership at the Pentagon believes the deployment will make a “tangible difference in the campaign to defeat ISIL.”

He pointed out that the deployment comes as a part of the U.S. administration’s acceleration of the fight against Daesh.

Cook declined to say whether medical personnel would treat rebel forces wounded in the fight.

The spokesman dismissed questions about whether the U.S. is returning to the ground war in the Middle East but he noted that the forces would remain well behind front lines.

It is no secret, however, that some U.S. special forces have conducted raids against Daesh and that the Pentagon is considering whether to build fire bases around Mosul as Iraqi forces move to recapture the city from the extremist group.

A leading Republican lawmaker welcomed the move but described it as “long overdue and ultimately insufficient."

“Another reluctant step down the dangerous road of gradual escalation will not undo the damage in Syria to which this administration has borne passive witness,” said Sen. John McCain who heads the Armed Services Committee.

He also criticized the administration for trying to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis as the regime of Bashar al-Assad continues to take on opposition with support from Iran and Russia as well as Tehran’s proxies such as Hezbollah.

“The administration has been on a fool’s errand pleading with [Russian President] Vladimir Putin to negotiate a political solution to the very hostilities he perpetuates,” he added.