Major Increase in US Troops in Iraq-return to the Triangle of Death

A major increase in US troop strength in Iraq that could see the force roughly doubled from 1400 today up to 3100 soldiers has been initiated by President Barack Obama.The 1400 current troops there now are divided among around 600 advise and assist specialists,and 800 security forces around the US Embassy and Baghdad International Airport.Now the US has begun moving back into Anbar Province,Iraq,which it withdrew from just over three years ago.A team of around 50 US troops has arrived at Al-Asad Air Base,once a huge US military installation during the Iraq War.They are there to assess the site for a new base in the US-led coalition's advise and assist effort for the Iraqi army.*
From 2004-07,US forces,spearheaded by the Marine Corps,fought their way across Anbar province,losing hundreds of soldiers in the process.Al Qaida in Iraq proved to be a formidable enemy to the Americans in that region,which was called the "Sunni Triangle of Death,"referring to the Sunni Muslim militants taking the lives of US troops.Although not on a combat mission,some of the 50 returning US soldiers are armed for force protection purposes.They are the vanguard of a shift in coalition strategy from defensive to offensive operations in Iraq.The Iraqi military plans to go on the offensive in the spring,and they will need the US at their side,not just advising from a distance.*
US commanders have expressed frustration that targets in this anti-Islamic State operation that now has a name,Operation Inherent Resolve,are slipping away from them as they try to verify the targets according to stringent rules,in an effort to be totally sure no civilians are in these nighttime convoy targets.The White House,however,is afraid civilian casualties will spook European members of the coalition into pulling out.And the strikes on Islamic State militants in neighbouring Syria are small and CIA-led for deniability,while US commanders want them to be larger,more effective strikes.In response to the growing need for US support,the President is reluctantly increasing America's footprint on the expanding battlefield.