News Digest

Obama expands U.S. force in Iraq as IS tightens grip on Middle East

President Barack Obama will send as many as 450 more U.S. military personnel to train Iraqi forces combating Islamic State militants, as his administration adjusts its strategy to contain the extremist group. The Obama administration is trying to bolster struggling Iraqi forces after more than 10 months of U.S.-led airstrikes and failed attempts to stop IS gains in the country. Last month the group captured Ramadi, the seat of the Anbar provincial government. The new deployment of U.S. troops is part of an anti-IS strategy that is not yet “complete,” as the mixture of strict rule, terror and the creation of infrastructure has been a hallmark of IS governance across Syria and Iraq, and has been exceedingly difficult to dislodge.

More needs to be done if this strategy is to be more effective.

Michele Flournoy, a former undersecretary of defense under Obama

Amid news of the troop expansion, U.S. officials also confirmed the death of Keith Thomas Broomfield, 36, of Massachusetts, who died fighting IS militants alongside Kurdish forces inside Syria. His death comes as a number of Americans have traveled to the country to join the fight against IS militants, despite the U.S. State Department’s urgings not to do so. The fight against IS has attracted dozens of Westerners, including a number of Iraq war veterans. Many are spurred on by Kurdish social media campaigners and a sense of duty rooted in the 2003 U.S.-led military invasion of Iraq.