Guardian: US military considers sending combat troops back to Iraq

[grahamhgreen]

The top-ranking officer in the American military said on Thursday that the US is actively considering the use of American troops directly in the toughest upcoming fights against the Islamic State (Isis) in Iraq, less than a week after Barack Obama doubled troop levels there.

General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, indicated to the House of Representatives armed services committee that the strength of Isis relative to the Iraqi army may be such that he would recommend abandoning Obama’s oft-repeated pledge against returning US ground troops to combat in Iraq.

Retaking the critical city of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest, and re-establishing the border between Iraq and Syria that Isis has erased “will be fairly complex terrain” for the Iraqi security forces that the US is once again supporting.

“I’m not predicting at this point that I would recommend that those forces in Mosul and along the border would need to be accompanied by US forces, but we’re certainly considering it,” Dempsey said.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/nov/13/us-military-considers-troops-iraq-general

OK, can I get one mea-culpa from one of the myriad people who swore we would not escalate this war?

I imagine that if Iraq has only 8,000 troops willing to fight (as Darrell Issa reported last Sunday), Obama will sell us on further escalation.

Obama was elected to get us out of this mess. He's damaging the Dem name with his insistence that we can and should win the 1400 year old Sunni/Shia conflict. Since 'surge' is so last decade, perhaps we can call the next escalation the 'splurge'.

......meantime, we still have grannies eating out of trashcans. And they're making feeding her illegal.

[pampango]

1. Circumstances 'may be such' that he is 'considering' a 'recommendation' to return combat troops.

A lot of ifs and maybes in that.

And if all the ifs and maybes happen, he makes a recommendation to Obama that the latter has shown no sign of accepting. I would say that generals can consider all the recommendations that they want. (On some level I suppose that is their job.) It is Obama's job to act on or reject recommendations.

[grahamhgreen]

2. Some say it is his job to SELL us those rec's and guide us into accepting the neocon vision

Of perpetual war.

[Skeowes28]

3. Think about it

We will do it if we have to i support Obamas use of force if it comes to I trust his judgement more than the leaders in the military

[grahamhgreen]

4. How do we pay for it?

[grahamhgreen]

5. Seriously???

[JonLP24]

6. A very good chance this will have the unintentional affect of stengthening ISIS

It is because of the last war that led to them in the first place and consider they want us over there -- its part of their propaganda. Why? Probably recruiting. US can't win this on their own and I don't see Iraqis wanting to help as much.

Plus it is a civil war in 2 different countries.