U.S. Adding Military Advisers to Reclaim Ramadi, Officials Say
In a major shift of strategy in Iraq, the Obama administration is planning to establish a new military base in Anbar Province and send hundreds of additional American military trainers to help Iraqi forces retake the city of Ramadi and repel the Islamic State.
Although a final decision by the White House has yet to be announced, the plan follows months of behind-the-scenes debate about what strategy the American-led coalition should pursue in Iraq. It represents a detour from longstanding plans to recapture Mosul this year.
Mosul is the capital of Nineveh Province in northern Iraq, which was taken by Islamic State militants last year.
But the fall of Ramadi to the Islamic State last month effectively settled the administration debate, at least for the time being. American officials said Anbar is now expected to become the focus of a long campaign that will seek to regain Mosul at a later stage, probably not until 2016.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/10/world/middleeast/us-adding-military-advisers-to-reclaim-iraqi-city-officials-say.html?emc=edit_na_20150609
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