Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has decided to more than double the U.S. military presence in Iraq after presiding over its total withdrawal in 2011.

The Defense Department said it would send another 1,500 troops to advise and train the Iraqi military amid the advance by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant. The Pentagon said the troops would establish training sites outside Baghdad and Irbil.

President Obama completed the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Iraq in December 2011, bringing an end to the Iraq War. He was criticized for the terms of the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement which ended the U.S. military presence.

“The commander in chief has authorized Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to deploy to Iraq up to 1,500 additional U.S. personnel over the coming months in a non-combat role to expand our advise and assist mission and initiate a comprehensive training effort for Iraqi forces,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

In a briefing on Nov. 7, Kirby said the additional troops, financed by a proposed $1.6 billion fund, were recommended by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. Kirby said the U.S. soldiers would work with Iraqi and Kurdish forces, known as Peshmerga, as part of a U.S.-led coalition effort to stop ISIL.

The administration’s decision would more than double the current U.S. military presence in Iraq. About 1,400 U.S. soldiers were said to be helping the Iraq Army as well as manning operations centers in Baghdad and Irbil.

“U.S. Central Command will establish two expeditionary advise-and-assist operations centers in locations outside of Baghdad and Irbil to provide support for the Iraqis at the brigade headquarters level and above,” Kirby said.

Officials said 630 of the additional soldiers would participate in U.S. training of Iraqi and Kurdish forces, including Anbar, Baghdad and Irbil. Training courses were designed to last up to seven months. The rest of the troops, 870, would be assigned to force protection and other missions, including the defusing of improvised explosive devices.

The Pentagon concluded that the U.S. military would be required to significantly bolster forces in Iraq as ISIL threatened Baghdad. Officials said the Iraq Army was too weak to launch an offensive against ISIL.

“U.S. Central Command will establish several sites across Iraq that will accommodate the training of 12 Iraqi brigades, specifically nine Iraqi army and three Peshmerga brigades,” Kirby said. “These sites will be located in northern, western, and southern Iraq.”

Kirby said Washington would be joined by other coalition members in advising and training the Iraqi military. Denmark, for example, has pledged to contribute 120 military advisers.

“Coalition partners will join U.S. personnel at these locations to help build Iraqi capacity and capability,” Kirby said. “The training will be funded through the request for an Iraqi train and equip fund that the administration will submit to Congress as well as from the government of Iraq.”

  Back to Iraq: Obama more than doubles U.S. military presence, WorldTribune.com