Washington – President Barack Obama has approved assigning 350 additional troops to protect the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and its support facilities.
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The White House says in a statement that the State Department had asked for the additional military personnel to help protect U.S. diplomatic facilities and personnel in the Iraqi capital. The Defense Department reviewed the request and recommended the additional troops.
The White House says Obama approved the additional troops on Tuesday and that they will not serve in a combat role.
The Pentagon says most of the additional troops are from the Army and some are Marines.
The new deployment raises the total number of U.S. troops in Iraq to more than 1,000, with just over 800 providing security for American personnel and facilities in Baghdad.
TOO LITTLE TOO LATE. another Vietnam ???
“they will not serve in a combat role.”
Does this mean that they will serve for traffic control? Sweeping the floors?
Seems like they will be serving the same role as the UN soldiers on the Golan Hights…
Who knows why what is happening in Iraq is happening?
It is not because of Bush’s invasion. It is because Obama decided to not leave a residual force of 20,000 troops even with Iraqi President pleading for America to leave soldiers behind.
Now, we really dumped a trillion dollars down the toilet.
For those of you who are not familiar with the U.S. Constitution or laws, Obama cannot declare war without the approval of Congress (and Congress is not in session and does nothing when in session). He has executive authority only, which permits him to send troops to protect certain US interests, like our embassies and consulates. He can, therefore, send small numbers of troops to Iraq and bomb ISIS to protect our interests. He cannot send in the military to fight a war (though past presidents have ignored this and illegally sent troops to fight wars in Vietnam, Panama, Grenada, and Iraq, among others).