The Obama administration is considering sending hundreds of more troops into Iraq to help train local forces to fight against the so-called Islamic State.
NPR's Tom Bowman reports the move comes after Islamic State militants reportedly took over the provincial capital cit of Ramadi in the Sunni heartland.
He filed this report for our Newscast unit:
"U.S. trainers now in Iraq have focused mostly on the Shitte-dominated Army. Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren told reporters that the U.S. would like to see more Sunnis come into the pipeline for training. "Officials say hundreds more American trainers could be sent to Anbar Province, the Sunni enclave just west of Baghdad, that is now largely under the control of Islamic State fighters. "Sunni tribal leaders have long complained of mistreatment by the Shitte-dominated government. "The Pentagon is now working up added training options for the White House. There are already some three thousand American troops in Iraq, either training and advising Iraqi troops, or providing security."
President Obama addressed this issue during a press conference earlier this week. Obama said he was still waiting on a finalized plan from the Pentagon.
"We don't yet have a complete strategy because it requires commitments on the part of the Iraqis, as well, about how recruitment takes place, how that training takes place," Obama said. " And so the details of that are not yet worked out."
Fox News reports that the Pentagon also plans on opening a sixth training base in Iraq's Anbar province. The network quotes Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, saying it's still not clear whether more troops will be needed for that base.
Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
