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AirTalk

President Obama announces additional 1,500 troops heading to Iraq

By AirTalk Staff
Published Nov 10, 2014
President Barack Obama delivers a statement on the first US bombing of the Islamic State group(IS) and Al-Qaeda at the White House in Washington, DC, September 23, 2014, before departing to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York. President Obama said Tuesday the coalition of Arab nations involved in the first US air strikes in Syria, showed the United States was not alone in combating the Islamic State group.
President Barack Obama delivers a statement on the first US bombing of the Islamic State group(IS) and Al-Qaeda at the White House in Washington, DC, September 23, 2014, before departing to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
(
JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
)
Listen 8:53
President Obama announces additional 1,500 troops heading to Iraq

President Barack Obama has given the green light for 1,500 U.S. troops to be deployed to Iraq in a supportive role, training Iraqi and Kurdish forces to fight the so-called Islamic State. The infusion of U.S. forces will nearly double the amount of American soldiers currently in Iraq.

In a statement made Friday, the White House said it would also be asking Congress for an additional $5.6 billion in funding for the fight against the so-called Islamic State. This includes $1.6 billion for a program that would help train and equip Iraqi troops.

The request for funding from Congress will be an early test of the level of cooperation we might expect to see between the White House and Congress following the shift of power to the Republicans after their victories in last week’s midterm elections.

President Obama has remained firm on the fact that U.S. troops will not be operating in a combat role.

Guest:

Michael O’Hanlon, Senior fellow at Brookings Institution; co-author with Former Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg of "Strategic Reassurance and Resolve:  US-China Relations in the 21st Century"