More U.S. Troops in Iraq: Questions That Need To Be Answered

Daniel L. Davis

Security, Middle East

What does the administration hope to accomplish with another several hundred special operators?

In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced the formation of an “expeditionary targeting force” composed of US commandos to work alongside friendly troops in Iraq and Syria. These commandos, he said, "puts everyone on notice in Syria: You don't know at night who's going to be coming in through the window."  What the Secretary didn’t mention, however, is how the absence of knowing what’s coming through a window in Syria is going to turn the tide of the war.  But the Secretary of Defense wasn’t the only official remaining quiet on that critical subject.

The Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep Mac Thornberry, said he wants more troops in Syria.  Earlier this week Senator John McCain spectacularly proposed an Arab army of 100,000 backed up by at least 20,000 American troops.  In deepening a bad trend in US foreign policy, what is spectacularly lacking in any of these ardent calls for the deployment of significant ground forces is any explanation of what this force is expected to accomplish, what it might cost (in terms of both blood and treasure), and how they propose this force will accomplish the military objectives they propose to give it. 

If members of Congress and Administration officials believe military force should be used to deal with ISIS, there are some critical questions we should first demand they answer.  A few of the more basic: