Vice Navy Chief: US ‘Needs to Be in Iraq’

Insists New War Not 'Discouraging'

Vice Navy Chief Admiral Michelle Howard insisted there was no reason to be “discouraged” at the new war in Iraq, or at the growing US military buildup in the nation, presenting it as a not unexpected result.

Admiral Howard insisted a lot of nations “moved back and then moved forward again as they work their way toward democracy,” and that the US military “needs to be” in Iraq at this point.

The Pentagon has recently made much of America’s “interests” in Iraq, which is argues as necessary for the escalation of US involvement in the nation’s war with ISIS.

US Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey would say of direct US fighting in Iraq only “we’re not there yet,” and has shrugged off complaints of mission creep, which have seen an “advisory” mission turn into combat troops in a matter of days as “mission match.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.