No boots on the ground in Iraq just became 1,000 pairs of boots on the ground
The mission creep that Democrats have been so concerned about since the U.S. “went back into Iraq” just got a little creepier. From The Hill:
There are now almost 1,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
Another 129 troops were sent to Iraq this week. Including 100 or so troops who are assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, a total of about 964 troops are now in the country.
The Pentagon was quick to underscore that these soldiers are not “combat troops,” even though all are armed and capable of taking self-defense measures — which frankly sounds a whole lot like combat troops.
Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren also noted that four V-22 Osprey (multi-mission, military, tiltrotor aircraft) are now stationed at a secured airfield in Erbil, along with “some” U.S. rotary-wing aircraft. Warren would not discuss what options the U.S. is planning.
