Obama to send 1,500 more troops to Iraq

President Barack Obama today announced he has authorized enough additional troops to nearly double the size of the U.S. force in Iraq. The president wants to add 1,500 more soldiers to the 1,400 already in Iraq training locals forces to fight the terror group ISIS. The troops will operate from bases outside Baghdad and Erbil.

“The president took these decisions at the request of the Iraqi government and upon the recommendation of Secretary [of Defense Chuck] Hagel and his military commanders based upon the assessed needs of the Iraqi Security Forces,” a statement from White House said. Obama also is asking Congress for $5.6 billion in new funding to support the operation against ISIS. To date, most of the funding for airstrikes and training of Iraqi and Kurdish troops has come from shuffling existing appropriations.

The U.S. and international partners began a campaign of airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq in August. In September, the airstrikes expanded to target the terror group inside Syria. Most of the newly authorized troops should arrive in Iraq by the end of the year. The White House emphasized U.S. military personnel will continue to serve as advisors to Iraqi and Kurdish fighters and not take on a combat role.

One of the main tasks of those fighters now face is securing the western Iraqi province of Anbar. ISIS, which also calls itself Islamic State, controls a swath of territory across northern Iraq and Syria that stretches all the way to the Turkey-Syria border. It is encroaching on the Anbar province and increasing terror attacks on the population there. Though much of Anbar opposed the U.S. war in Iraq, the governor of the province is said to have reached out to Obama for help fighting off ISIS.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.