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1st LD Writethru: Top U.S. general says deeper U.S. military involvement in Iraq an option

Xinhua, October 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

New top U.S. general Joseph Dunford said on Tuesday he would recommend embedding some of U.S. troops with Iraqi forces if such a tactic would bolster the currently stalled U.S.-led military campaign against the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.

"If it had an operational or strategic impact and we could reinforce success, that would be the basic framework within which I'd make a recommendation for additional forces to be co-located with Iraqi units," said Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a congressional hearing.

Dunford's remarks came as the year-long U.S.-led coalition campaign against the IS in Iraq and Syria stalled following several episodes in which U.S.-trained local security forces surrendered strategically important Iraqi towns to IS militants.

Previous local reports cited U.S. defense officials who spoke on condition of acronym as saying that embedded U.S. troops would in charge of calling in U.S. airstrikes, a step that would bring U.S. troops to the front line.

However, it would still be different for the U.S. to deploy directly ground troops in Iraq, something the Obama administration have repeatedly dismissed as an option.

Around 3,500 U.S. personnel were currently involved in training Iraqi security forces at six locations around Iraq. Endi