Gen. Dempsey visits Iraq

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The top U.S. military leader made a surprise visit to Iraq on Saturday to assess American and Iraqi efforts to roll back the Islamic State, officials said.

The trip by Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, comes as the U.S. plans to double the number of military advisers in Iraq, and two days after Dempsey suggested to Congress that the Pentagon may consider a modest additional number of U.S. troops to fight alongside Iraqis.

The general’s spokesman, Air Force Col. Ed Thomas, said the trip — Dempsey’s first since airstrikes against the Islamic State, also known as ISIL, began on Aug. 8 — is designed to get a firsthand look at the situation in Iraq, receive briefings and determine progress of the campaign.

Dempsey also visited with U.S. troops and commanders in Iraq on Saturday, he said. The general had talks with U.S. Ambassador Stuart Jones and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad before traveling to Erbil, where he met with Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani.

The U.S. and allies are conducting airstrikes against Islamic State positions in Iraq and Syria. The anti-ISIL plan promoted by President Obama and aides also includes training of local forces in Iraq and Syria to carry the fight on the ground.

Earlier this month, the Obama administration announced it planned to double the number of military advisers, up to around 3,000.

During testimony Thursday before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, Dempsey said Iraqi forces are doing better, but more complex operations may be needed to recapture areas taken by the Islamic State. Iraqi forces did reclaim an oil refinery town near Baghdad this week.

As for troop levels, Dempsey told Congress that the U.S. has a modest force in Iraq now and “any expansion of that, I think, would be equally modest.”

He added: “I just don’t foresee a circumstance when it would be in our interest to take this fight on ourselves with a large military contingent.” /End/