Another Troop Death: The Evolution of US Engagement in Iraq
A Navy SEAL was killed by “direct fire” from ISIS forces earlier today.
— -- This morning Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that a U.S. service member had died in northern Iraq after ISIS penetrated the front lines of Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
U.S. troops were providing support for the Peshmerga as they encountered an ISIS assault 17 miles north of the city of Mosul, which ISIS controls.
The Navy SEAL, who was part of U.S. forces there to assist and was reportedly several miles away from the front line, was killed by “direct fire” after ISIS forces pushed toward his position.
A Defense official told ABC News that U.S. fighter jets were called in to support coalition and Kurdish forces, carrying out 23 different air strikes with F-15s and drones.
This is the third U.S. combat-hostile fire death in Iraq since the U.S. returned to the country in June 2014.
What's the role of U.S. troops in Iraq?
The Obama administration has said that U.S. troops are not in a combat role in Iraq – a position that has been scrutinized following U.S. troop deaths.
“These American forces will not have a combat mission – we will not get dragged into another ground war in Iraq,” the President said in September 2014 when he laid out his strategy to combat ISIS.
However, Obama acknowledged that the U.S. troops are “in harm’s way,” saying that same month, “I don't want to downplay the fact that they're in a war environment and there are hostile forces on the other side."
The administration has acknowledged, over time, that American forces are at risk.
Last October, when pressed by reporters, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter admitted, “There are American troops in combat every day.”
Officially, the American mission in Iraq is to equip, train, advise, and assist Iraq’s security forces so they can reclaim ISIS strongholds.
But the U.S. role has grown to include the use of operations forces who can conduct hostage rescue missions and raids to capture or kill top ISIS operatives.
How has the U.S. force grown over time?
Since the U.S. military re-entered Iraq in mid-2014, the number of deployed troops has risen to nearly 5,000.
Officially, the Pentagon counts 3,670 U.S. troops inside Iraq. But in reality the number is far higher. That's because defense officials say there are an additional 1,000 personnel serving in the country on short rotations -- and the Pentagon does not count troops who serve in Iraq on temporary duty for less than 120 days.
Here’s the timeline of how the U.S. mission grew to what it is today.
June 15, 2014: President Obama ordered 100 U.S. Marines in the region to Baghdad to protect the U.S. Embassy.
June 16, 2014: President Obama authorized 275 troops to protect the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and another 300 special operations forces to train and assist Iraqi forces.
June 30, 2014: The president authorized another 200 troops to secure the American Embassy in Iraq, as well as Baghdad International Airport, bringing total new deployments at that time to 775.
September 10, 2014: In a major address to the nation, President Obama authorized an additional 475 troops to Iraq, bringing the total number of troops then deployed to 1,600.
Nov 7, 2014: President Obama authorized up to 1,500 more U.S. troops and requested an additional $5.6 billion for the war against ISIS, in part to cover those additional deployments.
June 10, 2015: President Obama authorized up to an additional 450 troops, which increased the total to 3,550.
Dec. 1, 2015: Secretary of Defense Ash Carter told Congress the U.S. will deploy a special operations “targeting force” of 320 to kill ISIS militants, find and free hostages and gather intelligence.
Early 2016: The Pentagon began to acknowledge previously unannounced, temporary troop rotations. U.S. officials estimated the size of the rotating force to be about 1,000 U.S. service members.
April 18, 2016: Secretary Carter announced the U.S. will send 217 additional troops to Iraq to serve as advisers and trainers.
Who are the other two American servicemen who have died in Iraq?
In late-March, Marine Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin, 27, was killed by ISIS rocket fire on his artillery support base near Makhmour, in northern Iraq.
Last October, Army Master Sgt. Josh Wheeler, 39, was killed in a raid in northern Iraq, which rescued 70 Iraqi hostages taken by ISIS.
Wheeler, a member of the elite Delta Force, was advising and assisting Kurdish forces that launched the raid and was caught in a crossfire that ensued after his team helped repel heavy ISIS fire.