Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military has launched a joint operations center in Iraq.

Officials said the U.S. military opened a joint operations center in Baghdad to help the Shi’ite-led government stop the advance of Al Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The officials said 180 U.S. military personnel, members of the Special Operations Forces Command, were in Baghdad to maintain the center.

“To be clear, we’re providing the Iraqis information that will be useful
to them in their fight against ISIL,” Defense Department spokesman Steve
Warren said.

Officials said the U.S. personnel were organized into six assessment
teams. They said the teams were also conducting liaison coordination with
the Iraqi military.

So far, the U.S. military presence in Iraq has exceeded 750. Officials
did not rule out additional U.S. personnel in the Arab state.

“The six teams of advisers are on the ground beginning their assessment
of Iraqi units in and around Baghdad,” Warren said in a briefing on June 30.
“These are very well-trained personnel that are used to operating in these
types of environments. They are very skilled at protecting themselves.”

Officials said JOC was sharing information of the U.S. assessments of
Baghdad’s ability to fight ISIL. They said an additional JOC was planned for
the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq.

“These forces are separate and apart from the up to 300 personnel the
president authorized to establish two joint operations centers and conduct
an assessment of how the U.S. can provide additional support to Iraq’s
security forces,” another Pentagon spokesman. John Kirby, said.

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