With Focus on Syria, US Escalation in Iraq Continues Apace

Over 200 More Troops Headed to Iraq From Fort Riley

With all of the attention this week on the US expansion of its ISIS war into Syria, one might expect that the war in Iraq is on the back-burners, simply treading water for the time being. That’s not the case.

The Syria strikes indeed put coverage of Iraq on the back-burners, but the escalations of that war have continued, with Fort Riley today announcing over 200 troops from the 1st Infantry Division will be heading to Iraq, operating out of both Baghdad and Arbil.

The new deployments are above and beyond the 1,600 US ground already in Iraq, and will only add to speculation that the administration is slowly but surely building up to the ground war that they have repeatedly promised isn’t being considered.

The US has been adding troops to its force in Iraq on a weekly basis, though it seems to be less public about that fact this time, leaving it up to the fort to announce the planned deployments.

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.