The U.S. military is set to send about 500 additional troops, including American military advisers, to a new base in a strategic Iraqi region. The move was initiated in order to help devise a counterattack against the aggressive advance of Islamic State militants.
While the final approval of the strategic move still lies with President Barack Obama, the modest addition to the American fighting force in Iraq seems like the likeliest choice among a number of options given to address the struggling war efforts in Iraq against insurgent forces, according to Reuters.
The last U.S. troop increase in the country came last November, when the president ordered 1,500 additional troops be sent to Iraq. The country now hosts 3,080 U.S. advisers, trainers and support personnel, reported the Wall Street Journal.
However, some government officials see the move as inadequate. One of the more vocal voices is Sen. John McCain, who was one of the lawmakers who urged the president to send thousands of troops to Iraq in order to advise, assist and accompany Iraqi forces, according to the Wall Street Journal.
"One has to wonder whether this president just wants to wait out the next year and a half and, basically, do nothing to stop this genocide, bloodletting, horrible things that are happening throughout the Middle East," said McCain.
A Pentagon spokesman, Col. Steve Warren, believes that the move to send 500 more troops to Iraq does not connote a broader strategy to address the country's main conflict, according to the Wall Street Journal. Rather, it is a narrower mission to train, advise and equip Iraqis in their battle against ISIL.
"There is a strategy for ISIL, which I think has been well articulated," said Warren. "Specifically, the discussion was about how we will increase our ability to train Iraqi security forces."
