Pentagon considers more commandos in Syria: Report
The United States will consider deploying more Special Operations forces to Syria if the first batch of commandos proves successful, a senior Pentagon official said.
In a major policy reversal last month, US President Barack Obama ordered 50 Special Operations troops to northern Syria to “assist and advise” militant forces battling Daesh.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday that 30 US soldiers arrived in the northern city of Kobani in addition to another 20 who were deployed to Hasakah province in eastern Syria.
The first deployment amounts to "breaking the seal" on putting more commandos on the ground in Syria and could lead to more deployments, the Pentagon official told USA Today Monday on condition of anonymity.
Sending more ground forces to Syria, the official said, hinges on the ability of allied militants and Kurdish forces to take ground from Daesh and hold it.
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter is scheduled to testify before the US House Armed Services Committee about the Pentagon’s strategy against Daesh.
Rep. Mac Thornberry, the Republican chairman of the committee, told USA Today that he would support an escalation of the military campaign in Iraq and Syria, including deployment of more US ground forces.
"The issue is what would it take to really degrade and ultimately destroy ISIS?" Thornberry said, using another acronym for the terror group. "Send however many guys or assemble whatever coalition is necessary to accomplish that goal."
Thornberry said the deployment of 50 special forces was a half measure that would not change the dynamic on the ground. "Fifty guys to be deployed is not going to turn the tide of this battle."
On Sunday, Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham called for Washington to nearly triple the US military force levels in Iraq to 10,000, and send an equal number of troops to Syria to “counter” Daesh terrorists.
About 3,500 US troops are currently “advising and assisting” Iraqi forces in the fight against Daesh.
The United States and its allies have been conducting airstrikes in Iraq and Syria since last year.
Observers say while the US and its allies claim they are fighting against terrorist groups like Daesh, they in fact helped create and train those organizations to advance their policies in the Middle East.
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