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Obama to Send Special Operations Forces to Help Fight ISIS in Syria Obama Sends Special Operations Forces to Help Fight ISIS in Syria
(about 4 hours later)
WASHINGTON — President Obama will deploy a small number of American Special Operations forces to Kurdish-controlled territory in northern Syria to help local forces fight the Islamic State, the White House announced on Friday. WASHINGTON — President Obama announced on Friday that he had ordered several dozen Special Operations troops into Kurdish-controlled territory in northern Syria to assist local fighters battling the Islamic State, authorizing the first open-ended mission by American ground forces into the country.
The team will advise and assist opposition forces who are fighting the Islamic State militant group in Syria, providing smoother and quicker access to equipment and logistical help, an official said before the announcement. The decision adds a new level of risk to the Syrian enterprise, as it could bring the Special Operations troops into closer contact with the Islamic State, even if they are in Kurdish territory. While the deployment was small in scale, it was large in import for a president who until now had refused to send American ground troops for any sustained operations into a country devastated by more than four years of civil war. But with the fight against the Islamic State stalled, Mr. Obama concluded that a change was needed.
While administration officials characterized the deployment as an enhancement of current strategy, it is actually a huge shift for a president who has said repeatedly that he will not put American combat boots on the ground in Syria. The White House said the troops would number “fewer than 50” and insisted that they would only train and advise the local forces, not play a direct combat role against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. But administration officials acknowledged that Americans operating closer to the front lines could find themselves in firefights, and they left open the possibility of sending more such Special Operations troops into Syria in the future.
The White House said that the number of Special Forces troops who would deploy to northern Syria would be “fewer than 50” and that their mission would be to help coordinate local ground forces and coalition efforts to counter the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. “The responsibility that they have is not to lead the charge to take a hill, but rather to offer advice and assistance to those local forces about the best way they can organize their efforts to take the fight to ISIL or to take the hill inside of Syria,” said Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary. “That is the role that they will be playing. It still means that they’re in a dangerous situation. It still means that they will have all of the equipment that they need to protect themselves if necessary.”
In addition, Mr. Obama has authorized deploying A-10 Warthog planes and F-15 fighter jets to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, and has instructed his advisers to consult with the Iraqi government about establishing a Special Operations task force to further efforts to target Islamic State leaders there. He also ordered more military assistance to Jordan and Lebanon. But Mr. Earnest insisted that this was not mission creep. “The mission hasn’t changed,” he said.
The deployment came just weeks after Russia had inserted itself into the multisided civil war to support President Bashar al-Assad, bombing opposition forces, including some supported by the United States. The White House on Friday did not characterize the president’s decision as a response, but it further complicates a kaleidoscopic battlefield with varied forces and sometimes murky allegiances.
Some security experts said the Special Forces would be useful in helping to better coordinate efforts by Kurdish forces, but the president’s decision quickly drew criticism from other vantage points. Republicans argued that the deployment was too little and too late to make a meaningful difference, while some Democrats said it showed that the United States was heading down a slippery slope toward greater involvement in a fratricidal war.
The deployment again raised the question of the president’s legal authority to order such a mission. While Iraq’s government has invited American forces into their country, Syria’s government has not. Mr. Obama has demanded, without success, that Mr. Assad step down from waging war against his own civilians. But the White House said Mr. Obama had the power under 2001 legislation passed by Congress to authorize war against Al Qaeda and its affiliates and that he was acting in defense of an ally, Iraq, which the Islamic State has attacked from Syrian territory.
Mr. Obama, citing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan started under his predecessor, President George W. Bush, has long resisted being drawn into ground combat in Syria or back into ground combat in Iraq. But since Mr. Obama’s initial deployments of several hundred troops to Iraq to help local forces, the number has grown to about 3,500, and the roles have grown as well. An American soldier died last week in a joint commando raid to free prisoners held by the Islamic State. American commandos have also mounted raids into Syria for quick strikes.
The team now being sent into Syria will aid local forces with smoother and quicker access to equipment and logistical help, according to American officials, who discussed delicate details on the condition of anonymity. In addition, Mr. Obama authorized deploying A-10 Warthog planes and F-15 fighter jets to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey and instructed his advisers to consult with the Iraqi government about establishing a Special Operations task force to further efforts to target Islamic State leaders there. He also ordered more military assistance to Jordan and Lebanon.
But administration officials emphasized that Mr. Obama saw the military efforts as supporting Secretary of State John Kerry’s push for a diplomatic and political settlement to the Syrian war, with talks underway in Vienna.But administration officials emphasized that Mr. Obama saw the military efforts as supporting Secretary of State John Kerry’s push for a diplomatic and political settlement to the Syrian war, with talks underway in Vienna.
“The president has been quite clear that there is no military solution” to the war in Syria, said Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary. “There is a political one.”
Mr. Earnest insisted that “our strategy in Syria hasn’t changed” and that “these forces do not have a combat mission.” But he also said that the deployment of even a few dozen troops could make a difference by helping local forces that are fighting the Islamic State.
“I certainly wouldn’t underestimate the capability and capacity of our U.S. Special Operations forces to be an important force multiplier,” he said. “The president does expect that they can have an impact in intensifying our strategy for building local forces inside Syria for taking the fight to ISIL in their own territory.”
Mr. Obama spoke by telephone on Friday with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq to discuss the campaign against the Islamic State and to encourage Iraqi efforts to retake the city of Ramadi.
Other steps were outlined earlier this week by Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They said the United States would provide more equipment to groups fighting the Islamic State in Syria and increase efforts to help Iraq retake Ramadi.
The Pentagon wants to build a firewall behind forces allied with the United States — both the Kurds and the Syrian-Arab coalition backed by Mr. Obama — to allow these fighters to hold what territory they have captured. Part of the way to do that, one Defense Department official said, is to ensure that equipment is delivered and that subsequent supplies will reach these forces quickly.The Pentagon wants to build a firewall behind forces allied with the United States — both the Kurds and the Syrian-Arab coalition backed by Mr. Obama — to allow these fighters to hold what territory they have captured. Part of the way to do that, one Defense Department official said, is to ensure that equipment is delivered and that subsequent supplies will reach these forces quickly.
“We want a direct line to these forces,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “It’s imperative that they can get what they need when they need it.”“We want a direct line to these forces,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “It’s imperative that they can get what they need when they need it.”
While Mr. Obama and his administration have maintained publicly that they are not putting American combat boots on the ground in Iraq or Syria, the definition of combat has changed several times since the United States began airstrikes against the Islamic State in August 2014. Special Operations forces have conducted several secret missions on the ground into Syria and Iraq. While Mr. Obama and his administration have maintained publicly that they are not putting American combat boots on the ground in Iraq or Syria, the definition of combat has changed several times since the United States began airstrikes against the Islamic State in August 2014.
In May, Delta Force commandos entered Syria aboard Black Hawk helicopters and V-22 Ospreys and killed an Islamic State leader and about a dozen militant fighters. They also captured the leader’s wife and freed an 18-year-old Yazidi woman who Pentagon officials said had been held as a slave.In May, Delta Force commandos entered Syria aboard Black Hawk helicopters and V-22 Ospreys and killed an Islamic State leader and about a dozen militant fighters. They also captured the leader’s wife and freed an 18-year-old Yazidi woman who Pentagon officials said had been held as a slave.
Last summer, two dozen Delta Force commandos raided an oil refinery in the northern part of Syria as part of an effort to free James Foley, an American journalist, but found after a firefight that he and other hostages were not there. Mr. Foley was later beheaded by the Islamic State. In the summer of 2014, two dozen Delta Force commandos raided an oil refinery in the northern part of Syria as part of an effort to free James Foley, an American journalist, but found after a firefight that he and other hostages were not there. Mr. Foley was later beheaded by the Islamic State.
And just last week, an American soldier was killed in action in Iraq for the first time since the renewed military intervention last year, during a Kurdish and United States commando raid to free prisoners being held by Islamic State militants. Some 70 prisoners were freed, American and Iraqi officials said. Mr. Earnest said that while the new deployment was small in size, it could have disproportionate benefit. “I certainly wouldn’t underestimate the capability and capacity of our U.S. Special Operations forces to be an important force multiplier,” he said. “The president does expect that they can have an impact in intensifying our strategy for building local forces inside Syria for taking the fight to ISIL in their own territory.”
At a briefing earlier this week, Mr. Earnest repeated that the troops were not engaged in a combat mission, but that there would be instances when American troops were in combat situations. Mr. Obama spoke by telephone on Friday with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq to discuss the campaign against the Islamic State and to encourage Iraqi efforts to retake the city of Ramadi.
“The mission that our men and women in that region of the world have is quite different than the long-term, large-scale combat mission that they were given by President Bush in 2003,” Mr. Earnest said. “The situation now, while it continues to be dangerous, and while those men and women in uniform face a risk that we would certainly not downplay, there’s no denying that the mission that they’re carrying out is quite different.” The president’s decision drew a scornful response from some prominent Democrats. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, an Obama ally who served as the party’s chairman, quickly issued a statement noting that a year ago Mr. Obama had “stated that American combat troops would not be returning to the fight in Iraq,” but that now there were more than 3,500 American troops in Iraq.
The president’s decision drew a scornful response from at least one prominent Democrat. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, an Obama ally who served as the party’s chairman, quickly released a statement noting that a year ago Mr. Obama “stated that American combat troops would not be returning to the fight in Iraq” but that now there were more than 3,500 American troops in Iraq. Mr. Kaine said he supported Mr. Obama’s diplomatic efforts in Vienna to find a solution to the Syrian war, but noted “the incongruity to pursuing political discussions while at the same time ramping up our U.S. military presence in Syria to address half the problem — ISIL, but not Assad.”
Mr. Kaine said he supported Mr. Obama’s diplomatic efforts in Vienna to find a solution to the Syrian war, but noted “the incongruity to pursuing political discussions while at the same time ramping up our U.S. military presence in Syria to address half the problem.”
“ISIL, but not Assad,” he continued, referring to the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.
While calling on Congress to take up the question of authorizing the war, Mr. Kaine said, “It is also time for the administration to propose a unified strategy to address the intertwined challenges posed by ISIL and President Assad.”While calling on Congress to take up the question of authorizing the war, Mr. Kaine said, “It is also time for the administration to propose a unified strategy to address the intertwined challenges posed by ISIL and President Assad.”
Republicans called the latest move too little and too late given Russia’s intervention in Syria and the failure to change the overall dynamics in the years leading up to it. Republicans called the latest move insufficient given Russia’s intervention in Syria and the failure to change the overall dynamics in the years leading up to it.
“Putting small numbers of troops in Syria is yet another tactical move in the absence of a comprehensive strategy for Iraq, Syria and the broader Middle East that does nothing more than create the appearance of serious action,” said Representative Kevin McCarthy, the Republican majority leader from California.“Putting small numbers of troops in Syria is yet another tactical move in the absence of a comprehensive strategy for Iraq, Syria and the broader Middle East that does nothing more than create the appearance of serious action,” said Representative Kevin McCarthy, the Republican majority leader from California.