Obama sending 200 more American troops to Iraq





  Written by : Mohamed Abdel Fattah

Jul 01, 2014

 President Obama announced Monday that he is sending approximately 200 American troops to Iraq to reinforce security at the U.S. Embassy as Baghdad’s international airport, bringing the total U.S. deployments to Iraq this month to 775.

In a letter to Congress on Monday, President Obama wrote that additional troop deployments are “a prudent measure to protect US citizens and property.”

“This force is deploying for the purpose of protecting U.S. citizens and property, if necessary, and is equipped for combat,” wrote the President.

The president had previously deployed about to assist Iraqi security forces and he sent .

Obama says this force is also equipped with rotary-wing aircraft and can assist with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. he added the troops will stay in Iraq until security improves so that the reinforcements are no longer needed.

Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki lashed out at the US for alleged delays in the delivery of purchased F-16 fighter jets and Apache helicopters. In the meantime, Iraq has begun receiving a number of Russian fighter jets to mount a campaign against ISIS movements in the region.

Separately,Russia warned the United States on Monday against stepping up support for Syria's opposition.

last week , US President Barack Obama ’s administration asked Congress for $500 million for the US military to train and equip those armed Syrian oppositionist that the White House calls “moderate.”

In a statement on Monday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry criticized the move saying it would only bolster a caliphate declared by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant [ISIL] in part of Iraq and Syria.

"Given the real situation on the ground, these considerable funds, if allocated, would in fact serve entirely to strengthen the terrorist 'caliphate' proclaimed by the ISIL," it said.

"Under the circumstances in which terrorist and extremist groups have secured their dominant role among anti-governmental forces in Syria, the best arms and best prepared fighters would end up with them."

On Sunday Sunni jihadists group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) declared a new caliphate and an Islamic state to claim dominion over Muslims across the globe .

ISIS have declared the captured territories from Iraq's Diyala province to Syria's Aleppo a new Islamic State - a ‘caliphate and declared its chief, Abu Bakr  al-Baghdadi, as "the caliph" of the new state and "leader for Muslims everywhere,"

Islamic extremists have long aspired to recreate the Islamic caliphate that ruled over the Middle East for hundreds of years.

Sources

foxnews.

cbsnews.

washingtonpost.com

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