Top US general recommends more troops in Iraq, Syria
A US commander says more American troops will be needed to retake key areas from Daesh terrorists in Syria and Iraq.
General Lloyd Austin, the commander of US Central Command, made the recommendation before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Austin referred to Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria as the Daesh strongholds where the US needs more US troops to retake them.
Declining to provide further details on the recommendations, he said additional US military personnel could help develop better intelligence on the ground and help with logistics.
“We could increase some elements of the Special Operations footprint,” he said.
Austin claimed that the US military forces were beginning to diminish in the Middle East, saying, “We are getting dangerously small.”
The US has been leading a campaign of airstrikes in Syria and Iraq. US officials say the attacks target Daesh positions.
A number of Syrian and Iraqi officials, however, have cast doubt on the strikes, saying they were damaging infrastructure, especially in Syria.
Gen. Austin's recommendations come amid talks by Saudi and Turkish leaders of a ground operation in Syria.
The two countries have announced readiness to deploy ground troops to the Arab country, saying they were waiting for the US green light to go ahead with the plan.
The US has already special forces on the ground in Syria as well as troops deployed in Iraq.
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