U.S. officials had said previously that the number of special operations forces in Syria would be increased at some point, but Carter did not mention that in his comments. Officials spoke about the plan on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carter’s announcement Monday came after several meetings with his commanders and Iraqi leaders about how the U.S. can best help Iraqi forces retake Mosul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He met with Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, the top U.S.\u00a0military\u00a0commander for the fight against ISIS, as well as a number of Iraqi leaders including\u00a0Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Iraq’s Minister of Defense Khalid al-Obeidi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also spoke by phone with the president of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Late last month, Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that he and Carter believed there would be an increase in U.S. forces in Iraq in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later this week, Obama will be in Saudi Arabia to meet with Gulf leaders and talk about the fight against ISIS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carter has said the U.S. wants Gulf nations to help Iraq rebuild its cities once ISIS militants are defeated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A member of Iraq’s elite counterterrorism forces helps women and children fleeing their homes during clashes between Iraqi security forces and the Islamic State group in Hit, 85 miles west of Baghdad, on April 4.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo Credit: Khalid Mohammed\/AP<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n U.S.\u00a0military\u00a0and defense officials also have made it clear that winning back Mosul is critical, but will be challenging, because the insurgents are dug in and have likely peppered the landscape with roadside bombs and other traps for any advancing\u00a0military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A senior defense official told reporters traveling with Carter that while Iraqi leaders have been reluctant to have a large number of U.S. troops in Iraq, they also need certain capabilities that only more American or coalition forces can provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Iraqi leaders, said the official, back the addition of more U.S. troops if they directly coincide with specific capabilities that Iraq forces need\u00a0to fight ISIS and take back Mosul. The official was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n U.S. leaders have also made it clear that ongoing political disarray and economic problems must be dealt with in order for Iraq to move forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This week, the country has been struggling with a political crisis, as efforts to oust the speaker of parliament failed. Al-Abadi’s efforts to get a new cabinet in place met resistance, and influential Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr issued a deadline, giving parliament 72 hours to vote in a new Cabinet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, the costs of the war against ISIS, along with the plunge in the price of oil \u2014 which accounts for 95 percent of Iraq’s revenues \u2014 have caused an economic crisis, adding fresh urgency to calls for reform. Iraqi officials predict a budget deficit of more than $30 billion this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the new forces will largely be used to advise Iraqi forces closer to the front lines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":89890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":10,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[10,15,88],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1281],"class_list":["post-85240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-your-military"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"C6MTER4UYFA4HG7GXIF6UXNKU4","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2016\/04\/18\/u-s-to-send-200-more-troops-apache-helicopters-to-iraq\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635965727847527415-mosuljpg.jpg\")