Another Obama Lie: “No Troops On The Ground” In Iraq

United States has now doubled its military presence in Iraq. President Barack Obama authorized sending up to 1,500 additional soldiers who he says, have no combat role.

According to Obama, who said he would not send troops to Iraq whatsoever, the thousands of troops already on Iraqi soil will join the new shipment to collaborate in the training and assistance of Iraqi forces as well as Kurdish security forces in their fight against ISIS.

It is important to remember that the United States has supplied weapons and cash to Syrian rebels, who ultimately joined ISIS in Iraq, Syria and Kurdistan.

ISIS terrorists have, for the past two years, done the bidding of the United States government in the Middle East not only by providing the US a reason to re-invade Iraq, but also because it allowed the American military to bomb and occupy other targeted nations such as Libya and Syria.

The decision to send even more troops to Iraq followed requests from the Department of Defense, the Government of Iraq and the Central Command of the US Army, in charge of supervising the attacks on ISIS in Iraq.

The Pentagon justifies increasing the number of soldiers on the need to “defend” key territories and “taking the offensive” against extremist positions. In saying this, the Pentagon indeed admits that the troops are in combat role, which contradicts Obama’s lies that troops are not engaged in military operations.

The US had previously sent hundreds of so-called advisers to Iraq who helped set the ground for the re-invasion of that country.

“The decision was made after seeing the will and the ability of the Iraqi forces to go after ISIS, and to understand that they need more help,” said Pentagon spokesman Admiral John Kirby, in a press conference.

In official press releases the US says it currently has about 1,400 military personnel in Iraq divided between protecting US diplomatic facilities and advisers working with local forces.

The announcement about the US increasing military presence in Iraq was made during the meeting between Obama and congressional leaders, who participated in the Central Command brief with Admiral Kirby.

The Admiral’s message was issued three days after the midterm elections, where Obama and his accomplices suffered big losses against Republican challengers.

The president appeared before the press on Wednesday asking for specific authorization to strengthen the supposed military crackdown on ISIS, a decision that Obama himself had deemed unnecessary last September.

The increase in military operations will also raise the cost of the new war to about $ 5,6 billion. Operations will be executed in Iraq and Syria, where the US is committing clear violations of international law by bombing Syrian territory without the previous authorization of the Assad government.

A Pentagon spokesman said, without elaborating, that the governments of Iraq and foreign partners involved in the coalition will make economic contributions to the training plan.

USA has two operations centers in Iraq, one in Baghdad and another one in Erbil. The 1,500 additional military will be installed in new facilities, whose location was not disclosed by the Pentagon. Additionally, American troops will also be stationed in four training bases in northern, western and southern Iraq.

On this basis, according to Washington, there will be staff from Western countries involved in the bombing of ISIS in Iraq.

A Pentagon spokesman explained that the additional military will first travel to Iraq this month if Congress approves the new funds, and that all deployments will end in two or three months.

The training plan will take six to seven months with 630 troops having an advisory role or assisting Iraqis with logistical support.

Meanwhile, the remaining 870 will be training local forces. In addition, the US expects that about 700 foreign military troops will be involved in these training tasks.

The rapid advancement of ISIS in northern Iraq prompted the US to send troops back into the country last June.

Two months later, the alleged threat of jihadists against civilians and US personnel has become a reason to send even more military to Erbil. Obama ordered the start of air strikes against ISIS positions in northern Iraq after stating that the US would not be forced into the conflict as Iraq’s air force. In September, he expanded the bombing over the whole country.

Unless the US is thinking about occupying Iraq for another decade, aerial attacks will not be enough to diminish the advancement of ISIS terrorists into more territories such as Anbar province, located west of Baghdad.

Obama, who opposed the Iraq war and who in 2011 called most US troops back home, has insisted that, unlike the 2003 intervention, the military will have no combat role.

However, the Pentagon said in September that, if circumstances so require, the President may ask the military to accompany Iraqi troops on “targeted attacks”.

Luis R. Miranda is the Founder and Editor of The Real Agenda. His 16 years of experience in Journalism include television, radio, print and Internet news. Luis obtained his Journalism degree from Universidad Latina de Costa Rica, where he graduated in Mass Media Communication in 1998. He also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcasting from Montclair State University in New Jersey. Among his most distinguished interviews are: Costa Rican President Jose Maria Figueres and James Hansen from NASA Space Goddard Institute. Read more about Luis.