U.S. to Deploy 560 More Troops to Iraq

By Brandon Turbeville

Years after Obama claimed he ended the war in Iraq, the United States is once again announcing the deployment of hundreds of U.S. military personnel to the embattled Middle Eastern country. This time, the U.S. is announcing the deployment of 560 troops to Northern Iraq for the purposes of “aiding” and “assisting” in the battle for Mosul.

After the hard-fought liberation of the Qayara airbase by the Iraqi military, which is located about 50 miles from Mosul, the Department of Defense is allegedly deploying the troops so that they can provide “logistical” and “other” support for the battle for the ISIS-controlled city. In other words, to replace ISIS proxy control over Mosul with U.S. occupation … again. That is, if the re-re-re-conquering of Mosul is actually the goal and not merely the cover by which more American troops are being inserted into Iraq strategically for a coming operation against Syria and/or Russia in Syria.

The new troops will bring the official number of U.S. military soldiers operating in Iraq to about 4,647.

“With the retaking of Qayara West airfield, the Iraqi security forces have once again demonstrated a serious will to fight,” Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said.

“The point of seizing that airfield is to be able to establish a logistics and air hub in the immediate vicinity of Mosul. So, there will be U.S. logistics support,” he added in a statement to reporters.

Carter is now scheduled to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Army Lt. General Sean MacFarland, and Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obaidi. MacFarland is the head of the U.S. coalition against the Islamic State.

On Friday, November 7, 2015, it was announced by the Pentagon that U.S. President Barack Obama authorized the deployment of up to 1,500 troops to Iraq under the guise of “fighting ISIS.” The number of American soldiers officially deployed to Iraq is slowly ticking upwards, a strange direction for a war to go if it was in fact over.

The Iraqi military has been fighting back ISIS in Iraq slowly but surely and with great losses sustained over the past year. While the United States claims it is assisting the Iraqis in their fight, considering the U.S. track record in Iraq and in the fight against ISIS, we can only wonder what the true endgame of the U.S. might be.