Back to Iraq
[guest post by Dana]
President Obama notified Congress on Monday that he was sending up to 275 U.S. military personnel “to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.”
Obama also is considering sending 100 or fewer special operations troops to Iraq to advise its armed forces as it battles Sunni Muslim insurgents, according to a senior U.S. official. It was unclear whether they would be among the 275 military personnel or in addition to them.
…
A U.S. special operations team would operate under the ambassador in Baghdad and would be barred from engaging in ground combat, the senior U.S. official said. If approved, their mission would include coordinating U.S. airstrikes on insurgent positions, sharing intelligence with Iraqi security forces and giving Iraqi commanders tactical advice, the official said.
Lest you think the president is backpedaling on last week’s reassurance:
We will not be sending U.S. troops back into combat in Iraq, but I have asked my national security team to prepare a range of other options that could help support Iraqi security forces, and I’ll be reviewing those options in the days ahead.
White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said that American troops would not be involved in ground combat, however they might go back as advisors.
“The president was very clear that we will not be sending U.S. troops back into combat in Iraq,” she said in a statement. “That remains the case and he has asked his national security team to prepare a range of other options that could help support Iraqi security forces.”
–Dana
UPDATE: Here is the full statement released by the White House:
Today, consistent with the War Powers Resolution, the President transmitted a report notifying the Congress that up to approximately 275 U.S. military personnel are deploying to Iraq to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. The personnel will provide assistance to the Department of State in connection with the temporary relocation of some staff from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad to the U.S. Consulates General in Basra and Erbil and to the Iraq Support Unit in Amman. These U.S. military personnel are entering Iraq with the consent of the Government of Iraq. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad remains open, and a substantial majority of the U.S. Embassy presence in Iraq will remain in place and the embassy will be fully equipped to carry out its national security mission.
Also, Secretary of State John Kerry was interviewed today. In part, he was asked about the safety of personnel at the embassy in Iraq:
QUESTION: Again, a more immediate concern: What about the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad? There are reports that some personnel from that Embassy have been moved. How many are still there, and how are they being protected, and how concerned are you?
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I’m absolutely convinced that we have the security we need for our Embassy. We watch this every single day. We have had any number of meetings to make evaluations. We don’t discuss the numbers of people, but suffice it to say that there are a large number of contractors who have been doing various things around the country and because of the situation around the country, but clearly they’re not able to be out there safely at this point in time. So we think it is advisable to reduce those numbers, but we’re not doing so with respect to our diplomatic presence or our ability to be able to interact with the Government of Iraq. We’re really quite convinced that we have a security situation that will protect the interests of the United States and our citizens.
Reminder – this is what the president said today:
[A]pproximately 275 U.S. military personnel are deploying to Iraq to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
–Dana
wait! “No boots on the ground, he said! Very sad state of affairs.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/16/2014 @ 5:09 pmBarry the Failure labors mightily and brings forth a dead toy mouse…
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 6/16/2014 @ 5:09 pmon the upside, this massive failure of his will ensure his place in the history books…
at least until the left figures out a way to hide it all.
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 6/16/2014 @ 5:10 pmthis is just to give food stamp’s ISIS friends a challenge so they can sharpen up their skills for the march on Kuwait and Saudi Arabia early next year
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/16/2014 @ 5:13 pmCome on Mr. Netanyahu
mg (31009b) — 6/16/2014 @ 5:23 pmWhy would you tell everyone the number of troops you are sending? Are you going to publicly release their flight itinerary?
Hadoop (f7d5ba) — 6/16/2014 @ 5:27 pmObama sends 250 people who don’t vote for him to their deaths. One way or another is how Obama ensures a majority.
Jack (a742cc) — 6/16/2014 @ 5:33 pmIt’s a surge!!!
Patterico (9c670f) — 6/16/2014 @ 5:34 pmThat’s the solution he came up with after 18 holes? I forget which military officer said that we should have droned the ISIS four months ago..
Hadoop (f7d5ba) — 6/16/2014 @ 5:40 pmSomehow, assertions that they have a close eye on the safety of embassy officials does not reassure me very much, and I expect some of those in Iraq are not very reassured either.
And guessing his primary consideration in decision making about military options is likely political opinion in the US, I imagine any troops being deployed are not too confident either.
Praying should not be seen as a last resort, and it is certainly warranted now for those involved.
An aside to the web designer, this box works well when the browser is at full screen. When it is not at full screen, words disappear off the right border into unseen cyberspace (perhaps looking for Learner’s emails). (Using Mozilla-haven’t gone to Pale Moon yet, and Windows XP).
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 6/16/2014 @ 5:49 pm(I only check email, this site, and occasional spider solitaire with this machine- it’s old and gags with any site that has any kind of video advertising. It’s been a year or so since I’ve been able to see PowerLine from here.)
President Lyndon Milhous Obama.
NickM (f8e14b) — 6/16/2014 @ 5:50 pmHow many troops did we have in Saigon in 1975 when we closed the embassy in South Vietnam. We need more than that.
J.P. (bd0246) — 6/16/2014 @ 6:22 pmTeam USA defeated Ghana 2-1, on an eighty-sixth minute header by John Brooks from a corner kick by Graham Zusi.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 6/16/2014 @ 6:24 pmCan’t wait to see the White House’s photo of Obama “carefully monitoring the situation on ESPN” from the war room.
Let’s be clear, and make no mistake, the President ordered that corner kick !
And General Motors is still alive, too !
Or something.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 6/16/2014 @ 5:49 pm
And guessing his primary consideration in decision making about military options is likely political opinion in the US,
That’s what I think too, plus a desire to make it look like that is NOT his prime consideration, therefore, he tries to look consistent, or claim consistency, even if the opinion of a honest person would change.
And it’s not average political opinion in the United States, but mostly opinion among the half or so of the population who voted or volunteered for him – his base, plus a little bit more. He’s trying to hold on to the 40% or 50% – whatever – who think he is doing a good job.
He also doesn’t want a perceived disaster. Or at least for it not to be his fault.
Some of his desires are actually contradictory. One thing is for sure, if any military action is taken, he wants people to agree it was necessary – therefore he wants to wait till the last possible minute, and then do as little as possible..
Sammy Finkelman (69aa73) — 6/16/2014 @ 6:39 pmMaybe if someone alerts President Fruit Loops to the fact that ISIS opposes same-sex marriage, he will like totally be against them.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 6/16/2014 @ 6:43 pmOr something.
Of course they’re contradictory. If your decisions are predicated on polls rather than principles, and your agenda is driven by your concern for your legacy, then every decision will be contradictory.
Hadoop (f7d5ba) — 6/16/2014 @ 6:53 pmWe are sending 275 special force troops to NOT fight?
JD (0e6a5e) — 6/16/2014 @ 7:09 pm@12– Can’t answer that one, but about 12 years prior to that a “few” were sent as advisors, not to be engaged in ground combat or anything like that.
A bigger man at the helm would say something more like this: “I sure thought we were out of this place, but we don’t always get what we want. I am sending military personnel to secure the Embassy and our diplomatic staff there. I hope this gives the ISIS pause to think twice about action against our embassy. Should it not, then they will pay a terrible price for their lack of good sense.”
Of course such a man at the helm would have backed up his earlier “red line” satements, too.
Gramps, the original (c15c43) — 6/16/2014 @ 7:10 pmif we don’t see a really snazzy interpretive dance youtube come out of this in the next week to ten days then there’s for sure no reason to think of this as a serious deployment
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/16/2014 @ 7:11 pmThis should do it, happyfeet.
mg (31009b) — 6/16/2014 @ 7:17 pmhttp://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=disco+inferno+youtube&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=15D2E04F8DAF7DBFE77615D2E04F8DAF7DBFE776
burn baby burn indeed
please to tell me again how much our little embassy cost?
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/16/2014 @ 7:19 pmHopefully they will be calling in air strikes like they did in Afghanistan.
But after five years of Hope and Change, there is no “hopefully” left.
Patricia (5fc097) — 6/16/2014 @ 7:21 pmmaybe it’s just me but with the middle east in complete meltdown doesn’t Rand Paul need a more serious hobby other than fantasizing about being president?
he’s more than welcome to stay in the senate with all the other senate trash but as far as anything else goes i just can’t take him remotely seriously anymore
maybe it would’ve been different if we were just talking about getting spending under control and pushing back on foodstampcare
but it looks like foreign affairs are becoming a monstrous armageddon-like abattoir of american crdibility that even CNN’s most corpulent propaganda slut would have trouble spinning a reassuring narrative out of
what’s even more troubling is that this this Hillary person, even with her stupendously historic boobies, doesn’t strike me as being equal to the moment either
we’re in an ungodly pickle huh
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/16/2014 @ 7:32 pmamerican *credibility* I mean
(such as it is)
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/16/2014 @ 7:33 pmthisthis is what i get for taking a call while trying to comment on the internet
i multitask ok sometimes but not an extraordinarily high percentage of the time
that’s just not who i am
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/16/2014 @ 7:35 pmIf I were one of the 275, I would have a Plan B. Plan A, of course, being the plan the president has for them.
Patricia (5fc097) — 6/16/2014 @ 7:35 pmPatricia we’re well at the point where everybody in the military either knew what they signed up for or knew what they re-upped for
maybe Team R needs to rethink its masturbatory fetish for all things military
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/16/2014 @ 7:41 pmI guess like Janis Joplin, he figures there’s nothing left to lose,
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/06/dsouza-obama-sees-america-as-an-evil-child-molester-video/
narciso (3fec35) — 6/16/2014 @ 7:48 pmPatricia, if I were one of the 275, we’d be in a Plan 9 From Outer Space scenario…
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/16/2014 @ 7:51 pmObama captures libyan killer of our ambassador now what is fox republican propaganda network going to do!
iraq arabic for vietnam (95647e) — 6/17/2014 @ 12:35 pmJennifer Griffin gave a straight up report of the fact that he was caught. Harris Faulkner’s guest did say he that trying him in a civilian court, he’d have right not afforded in a military tribunal.
What in your fevered imagination do you think they said?
Hadoop (7fc17e) — 6/17/2014 @ 12:39 pmthe brought their A team with Psaki as usual;
http://therightscoop.com/james-rosen-grills-state-dept-on-why-it-took-so-long-to-capture-benghazi-suspect/
narciso (3fec35) — 6/17/2014 @ 12:53 pmthe answer isn’t spelled out
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/17/why-delta-force-waited-so-long-to-grab-a-benghazi-ringleader.html
narciso (3fec35) — 6/17/2014 @ 1:43 pmIf you really are going to support going back into Iraq, then we go full bore. That means a draft. That means higher taxes. That means possible rationing. The WWII generation – at war and at home – had no problems sacrificing to save the world from Nazis. If you’re not willing to make any sacrifices of your cushy lifestyle to defeat the threat of Islamists, then shut up.
JEA (fb1111) — 6/17/2014 @ 3:39 pm[A]pproximately 275 U.S. military personnel are deploying to Iraq to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
It turns out that 275 is a ceiling. The real number is epxected to be something over 100.
Sammy Finkelman (59be71) — 6/17/2014 @ 8:45 pmShe didn’t think that statement through:
http://hotair.com/archives/2014/06/17/hillary-on-taliban-five-theyre-not-a-threat-to-the-u-s-because-theyre-going-to-be-in-qatar/
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redc1c4 (abd49e) — 6/18/2014 @ 12:32 am35. She did think it through, given that she wanted to say Obama was right.
IN the second interview, note these cautionary words from her:
Actually, of course, even where they are, they can do some planning, if they are any good at that, and, of course, she itotally ignores that this condition only applies for a year, but she’s counting on most people, including the reporters, not being fully informed, or completely alert, and, two years from now, it won’t make a difference what she’s saying right now.
They can also help negotiate terms with Iran from where they are, or tell Taliba who control parts of Afghanistan what to do. The biggest danger from some of them is their governmental authority.
Sammy Finkelman (59be71) — 6/18/2014 @ 3:23 amPresident Obama is meeting with members of the leadership of Congress today, evidently, to see if he will be criticized for doing or not doing anything – and which way.
Sammy Finkelman (95e288) — 6/18/2014 @ 6:39 amNew York Daily News front page Tuesday:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/the-week?pdate=20140617
Sammy Finkelman (95e288) — 6/18/2014 @ 9:35 amHere I do lunch now. Make noon after constitutional when reading tripe comment. Wait can’t for next post of yours. Will good it be. Buy grapes!
Hadoop (7fc17e) — 6/18/2014 @ 9:45 amI just listened to the news at the top of the hour. They had a soundbite from Chuck Hagel, who when talking about the bloodletting in Iraq actually said the the US can’t get involved in every conflict.
Think about that. We can’t get involved in every conflict, true.
But we can’t get involved in an armed conflict we caused?
This administration is beyond moronic.
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Splendyr Anti Aging (f20e33) — 6/18/2014 @ 8:59 pmTranslation of @Wikibaghdady tweets (collected into paragraphs)
http://justpaste.it/e90q
Sammy Finkelman (95e288) — 6/18/2014 @ 9:11 pmThe real leader might be Brigadier General Haji Bakr who was previously an officer in Saddam’s Baathist army. Or was until he was killed around the end of 2013.
He says Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is a real person who has a fake nickname and title. This is also the case with everyone around him and there isn’t a member of Al-Baghdadi’s inner circle with a real name. Every person in Al-Baghdadi’s inner circle is 100% Iraqi. The number of members in the Al-Baghdadi’s military council is about 8 to 13 people.
Before Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi it was Abu Omar Al-Baghdadi.
His first name is Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim and he was also known as Abu Awad. As a nickname, he wascalled Abu bakr.
He first lived in Al Samarra but then moved to Fallujah to work as an imam of the mosque Diyala. He doesn’t have a Ph.D as claimed and he never worked as a medical doctor anywhere.
There’s a lot about how they keep control.
Sammy Finkelman (95e288) — 6/18/2014 @ 9:24 pmuvas no
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/18/2014 @ 9:27 pmhttp://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/02/isis_confirms_death.php
Feb 5, 2014:
People have a hard time figuring out the dramatis personae.
Nobody knows who this wikibaghdaddy is, but it seems he doesn’t want ISIS under Baghdadi to get too strong.
Sammy Finkelman (95e288) — 6/18/2014 @ 9:36 pm