President Barack Obama said his decision to double the number of US military advisers in Iraq marked a new phase in the campaign against Islamic State and was not an indication his strategy in the region had failed.
Obama, in an interview on CBS’ Face the Nation broadcast yesterday, said the first phase was getting an Iraqi government in place that was inclusive and credible.
The airstrikes have been very effective in degrading Isil’s capabilities and slowing the advance they were making
He said sending in 1,500 additional American troops also signified a shift from a defensive strategy to an offensive one. The decision was announced on Friday.
“The air strikes have been very effective in degrading Isil’s capabilities and slowing the advance that they were making,” Obama said, according to a CBS transcript. “Now what we need is ground troops, Iraqi ground troops, that can start pushing them back.”
The US President did not rule out sending more troops back to the region. “You know, as commander in chief I’m never going to say never,” he told CBS.
But Obama said his military commanders believe fewer troops would be needed over time as coalition members join the United States in training and assisting Iraqi troops. US air strikes on Saturday destroyed an Islamic State convoy near the Iraqi city of Mosul, but US officials said it was unclear whether the group’s top commander, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, had been in any of the 10 targeted vehicles.
The decision to send more troops came five months after Islamic State seized much of northern Iraq. The militant group has also seized territory in Syria, where the US is leading air strikes targeting the militants.
Obama’s 2012 withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq has been sharply criticised by some Republicans, including US Senator John McCain, as having left the country to spin into sectarian strife and chaos. On Sunday television news shows, Republican and Democratic lawmakers said they believed Congress should have a say in troop decisions like the one announced by Obama.