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Obama orders US special forces to 'assist' fight against Isis in Syria
Obama orders US special forces to 'assist' fight against Isis in Syria
(about 1 hour later)
Barack Obama has ordered up to 50 special operations troops to northern Syria, in an apparent breach of his promise not to put US “boots on the ground” to fight Islamic State militants in the country.
Barack Obama has ordered up to 50 special operations troops to Syria, US officials announced on Friday, in an apparent breach of a promise not to put US “boots on the ground” to fight Islamic State militants in the country.
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The Pentagon has also been “consulting” with the Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, to establish a special operations taskforce, with an unspecified number of US forces aiming “to further enhance [US] ability to target Isil leaders and networks” across the Syria border in Iraq, a senior administration official told the Guardian on Friday.
The Pentagon has also been “consulting” with the Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, to establish a special operations taskforce to fight “Isil leaders and networks” across the Syrian border in Iraq, a senior administration official told the Guardian on Friday.
The forces will be supported by an additional deployment of A-10 “Warthog” attack aircraft and F-15 jets to Nato’s Incirlik base in Turkey, in what amounts to a major escalation of US force levels in the region.
But the White House insisted that its overall strategy to combat Isis remained the same and said the special forces troops would be helping coordinate local ground forces in the north of the country and other non-specified “coalition efforts” to counter Isis rather than engaging in major ground operations.
Administration sources also told the Guardian that the US would be enhancing military assistance to Jordan and Lebanon to help their governments fight Isis, or Isil as the US government calls the group.
“The decision the president has made is to further intensify our support for our forces who have made progress against Isis,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said at a news conference.
But the White House insists that its overall strategy to combat Isis remains the same and says the special forces troops will be helping coordinate local ground forces and other non-specified “coalition efforts” to counter Isis rather than engaging in major ground operations.
The move came as diplomats worked in Vienna to restart talks on a political transition that would remove Syrian president Bashar Assad. At the discussions with leaders from Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran, US secretary of state John Kerry framed the troop announcement as part of a shifting policy that included this major diplomatic push to initiate talks that would bring about a political transition in Syria.
“Our core objective of degrading and destroying Isil has not changed,” said the senior administration official. “We have always been clear that this would be a multi-year campaign, and that continues to be the case.”
“We are intensifying our counter-Daesh campaign and we are intensifying our diplomatic efforts to end the conflict,” Kerry said, using another name for Isis. “That is why President Obama made an announcement about stepping up the fight against Daesh.”
At a press conference White House spokesman Josh Earnest confirmed “special operators” would be deployed.
The injection of US special forces in Syria seemed at odds with earlier statements Obama has made about not placing troops in the country.
“The less-than-50 number is accurate,” he said. “I cannot be more specific than that, primarily for reasons of operational security.”
Challenged as to how such a small number of troops could change the situation in Syria, Earnest said the forces would have an “impact on intensifying our strategy for building the capacity of local forces on the ground in Syria to fight” Isis and jihadi forces.
“The decision the president has made is to further intensify our support for our forces who have made progress against Isis,” he said.
Earnest conceded that the insertion of special forces in Syria was likely not “a game-changer”.
“I think you are astute to make that observation,” he told a reporter. “The president has been quite clear that there is no military solution to the problems that are plaguing Iraq and Syria.”
Earnest said the mission was “to build the capacity of local forces to be even more effective than they have already been in terms of taking the fight to Isil on the ground.”
Earnest declined to offer specifics about the troops’ role. “Those special op forces will be in Syria, and they will be offering some training some advice and some assistance to moderate opposition forces. These forces do not have a combat mission.”
The US secretary of state, John Kerry, was in Vienna on Friday for talks with leaders from Saudi Arabia, Iran and elsewhere, with Syria on the agenda.
Speaking at a press conference, he said the special operations forces were part of a “two-pronged strategy” in Syria. “We are intensifying our counter-Daesh [Isis] campaign and we are intensifying our diplomatic efforts to end the conflict,” he said.
“That is why President Obama made an announcement about stepping up the fight against Daesh.”
Kerry said the US forces would “help to coordinate local forces and coalition efforts in order to counter Daesh”.
“I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria,” Obama said in an address in September 2013.
“I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria,” Obama said in an address in September 2013.
“I will not pursue an open-ended action, like Iraq and Afghanistan,” he added, when first announcing potential air intervention in Syria to deter the use of chemical weapons.
Asked about that “boots on the ground” statement, Earnest said the quote was taken “out of context”.
Asked about that “boots on the ground” statement, Earnest said the quote was taken “out of context”.
“The quote that you pulled there is a very different situation,” Earnest told a reporter. “He [Obama] said he was not prepared to put boots on the ground to take out the Assad regime. That was precisely the mistake the previous administration had made ... to take down Saddam Hussein.”
“The quote that you pulled there is a very different situation,” Earnest told a reporter. “He [Obama] said he was not prepared to put boots on the ground to take out the Assad regime. That was precisely the mistake the previous administration had made ... to take down Saddam Hussein.”
Washington officials insist that the new deployments do not amount to an admission of failure in its existing efforts to combat Isis from the air and support so-called “moderate” rebels with training.
The US military has conducted narrow ground missions inside Syria, such as one in May in which special forces killed an Islamic State commander in a raid the Pentagon said took place in the east of the country.
“We have been focused on intensifying elements of our strategy that have been working, while also moving away from elements of our approach that have proven less effective,” said the senior administration official.
A $500m effort over the last two years by the United States to train Arab opposition forces in Syria failed. General Lloyd Austin, commander of US Central Command, told the Senate last month that it had resulted in only a handful of fighters actively battling the jihadi army. “We’re talking four or five,” Austin said.
“Specifically, we have made good progress in both Iraq and Syria when we have worked closely with effective partners on the ground who have proven capable of reclaiming territory from Isil and going on offence,” he added. “Specifically, we have enhanced our ability to partner with these forces – advising them and helping to facilitate their activities; providing air support for their ground offensives; and directly equipping them so that they are more effective. At the same time, we have scaled back elements of our training and equip mission with respect to Syria that involved taking forces out of Syria.”
Thousands of US forces are deployed in neighboring Iraq – where local forces are also fighting groups identifying themselves as Isis – in what the White House has described as a training and advisory role. The US troops lead and assist local fighters and help coordinate air strikes against enemy positions. The Pentagon says the troops have rarely, if ever, participated directly in combat against Isis fighters. Last week a US soldier participating in a raid on a compound near the city of Kirkuk, Iraq, to free dozens of Iraqi prisoners from captivity was killed.
Recently, the US conceded that barely a handful of rebels had been trained outside Syria under the earlier programme and several had seen their US-supplied weapons and equipment seized by Isis.
The change in approach in Syria coincides with Russian intervention against a variety of rebel groups fighting Assad and a decision to invite Iran to the Vienna peace talks.
The change in approach also coincides with aggressive Russian intervention against a variety of rebel groups fighting Assad in Syria and a decision to invite Iran to peace talks starting in Austria on Friday.
Administration sources also told the Guardian that the US would be enhancing military assistance to Jordan and Lebanon to help their governments fight Isis.
“While we are working with coalition partners to intensify our efforts against Isil, we are also ramping up our diplomatic efforts to pursue a political resolution,” US officials said on Friday. “Secretary Kerry has been consulting with key coalition partners and the president has spoken to a number of our key partners, including the leaders of Turkey, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The forces were to be supported by an additional deployment of A-10 “Warthog” attack aircraft and F-15 jets to Nato’s Incirlik base in Turkey, officials said.
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“The talks in Vienna represent a positive step forward in which all of the key parties are at the table to discuss the imperative of our efforts to pursue a political resolution. Our intensified counter-Isil campaign will support those efforts by continuing to strengthen opposition partners on the ground, while also coordinating the efforts of our coalition partners.”
Kurdish allies
Kurdish allies
Former US diplomat Robert Ford, who was ambassador to Syria from 2010-14 and now is a fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, warned that the United States appeared to be committing to a relationship with a Kurdish group that has been recently accused of human rights abuses and that is tied with groups on the US’s own lists of terror groups.
Former US diplomat Robert Ford, who was ambassador to Syria from 2010-14 and is now a fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, warned that the United States appeared to be committing to a relationship with a Kurdish group that has been recently accused of human rights abuses and is tied with groups on the US’s own lists of terror organizations.
“The key armed element in north-eastern Syria is the Syrian Kurdish militia named the YPG,” Ford said. “Everyone needs to understand that this means that the Americans are going to be working much more closely with this Syrian Kurdish group, which is loosely affiliated with the PKK, a broader pan-Kurdish group which is on our terrorism list.
“The key armed element in north-eastern Syria is the Syrian Kurdish militia named the YPG,” Ford said. “Everyone needs to understand that this means that the Americans are going to be working much more closely with this Syrian Kurdish group, which is loosely affiliated with the PKK, a broader pan-Kurdish group which is on our terrorism list.
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“The legalities there, we must be getting close to the edge of the envelope.”
“The legalities there, we must be getting close to the edge of the envelope.”
Ford pointed to an Amnesty International report last week accusing the YPG of significant human rights violations against Sunni Arab tribal residents in the region.
Ford pointed to an Amnesty International report last week accusing the YPG of significant human rights violations against Sunni Arab tribal residents in the region.
“We need to be very careful of how we deal with this group,” Ford said.
“We need to be very careful of how we deal with this group,” Ford said, adding that the US insertion in northern Syria should not be mistaken for participation in the main war between Assad’s forces and those attempting to overthrow him, Ford said.
“The [US] group presumably will also presumably be trying to train Arab groups that will then move into Isis territory around the cities of Raqqa and maybe farther to the east,” Ford said. “That is not something that can be achieved quickly. And so we should assume that this deployment will take some time to complete its mission.”
Ford said the US effort to train Kurds could prove more successful than the months-long, failed fight to train Syrian Arab forces, because the Kurds were more motivated to fight for their own regional autonomy.
Senators reacted with disbelief last month at testimony by General Lloyd Austin, commander of US Central Command, that a $500m effort to train Syrian forces against the Islamic State has resulted in only a handful of fighters actively battling the jihadi army. “We’re talking four or five,” Austin said.
Russian forces in western Syria and projected US forces in the north would apparently not be working in geographic proximity – or working together, Ford said.” I don’t sense that there’s going to be any coordination between these forces and the Russian aircraft,” he said.
The US insertion in northern Syria should not be mistaken for participation in the main war inside the country, Ford said.
“This fight in north-eastern Syria is something of a sideshow,” Ford said. “The real fight is a three-way fight over in the western half of Syria, which involves the Assad regime, the so-called nationalist or moderate opposition, and the jihadi elements.
“That’s a three-way fight. The Russians have weighed in very heavily on behalf of the Assad government against the moderate opposition, or the nationals, call them what you will. The Islamic state just launched a very successful attack against the regime to the east of Aleppo.
“That is a long war of attrition, and it’s ongoing.”
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Earlier this week, the secretary of defense, Ash Carter, told the Senate armed services committee the US would be focused on retaking Ramadi in Iraq, providing more equipment to groups fighting Isis in Syria; and continuing targeted raids and joint operations against Isis targets in Iraq and Syria.
The US military has conducted ground missions inside Syria, such as one in May in which special forces killed an Islamic State commander in a raid described by the Pentagon as taking place in the east of the country.
Thousands of US forces are deployed in Iraq – where local forces are also fighting groups identifying themselves as Isis – in what the White House has described as a training and advisory role. The US troops lead and assist local fighters and help coordinate air strikes against enemy positions. The Pentagon says the troops have rarely, if ever, participated directly in combat against Isis fighters.
Last week a US soldier participating in a raid on a compound near the city of Kirkuk, Iraq, to free dozens of Iraqi prisoners from captivity was killed.
The US move follows the deployment to Syria of Russian troops and weaponry earlier this month.
Obama announced two weeks ago that he would leave 5,500 US forces in Afghanistan beyond his departure from office in January 2017, in a break with longstanding promises to end US military involvement in the country.
