NATO Accepts US Call for Bigger Training Operation in Iraq

NATO Troops Will Not Be Provided for Combat, Officials Insist

The Pentagon has been pretty clear that US ground troops in Iraq aren’t going anywhere, with the deployment more or less permanent. Apparently, they’d just as soon have company, and have convinced NATO to come along.

NATO announced today that alliance defense ministers have agreed to send a “train-and-advise” mission to Iraq to help the US with “stabilization” operations, with an eye mainly toward training the Iraqi military.

Officials say that NATO forces in the country will be there purely for non-combat operations, but such assurances by the US didn’t exactly pan out, meaning this pledge is uncertain, at best.

NATO officials say they are as yet undecided on the troop numbers, and this appears to be the result of many of the European member nations being loathe to participate. German officials suggested that, with the 1,350 committed to the ISIS fight heading home, they’ll have fewer troops in Iraq by the end of the transition to training.

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.