U.S. To Send More Troops Back To Iraq

05:27

June 10, 2015

A U.S. Army trainer (L), instructs Iraqi Army recruits at a military base on April 12, 2015 in Taji, Iraq. Members of the U.S. Army's 5-73 CAV, 3BCT, 82nd Airborne Division are teaching members of the newly-formed 15th Division of the Iraqi Army, as the Iraqi government launches offensives to try to recover territory lost to ISIS last year. (John Moore/Getty Images)

President Obama has ordered up to 450 more troops to Iraq, to train Iraqis to take territory back from the militant group ISIS.

The troops would set up a new base, less than four years after most U.S. troops left Iraq. But the troops would not be deployed to the frontlines to call in airstrikes or advise Iraqi military units.

Here & Now's security analyst Jim Walsh tells host Jeremy Hobson that the U.S. troops will focus on training Sunni tribal leaders in western Iraq, since the Iraqi Army has been unable to hold back ISIS.

Guest

Jim Walsh, Here & Now security analyst and research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Security Studies Program. He tweets @drjimwalshmit.

This segment aired on June 10, 2015.

U.S. To Send More Troops Back To Iraq

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