US President Barack Obama has decided to send 300 additional American Special Operations troops to assist in Iraq's fight against the advancing Sunni, Al Qaeda-inspired extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which has captured several cities and has its sights set on Baghdad.
Speaking to reporters from the White House Briefing Room, Obama said the Green Berets would be focused on training Iraqi troops to fight back the ISIS.
Obama, however, made it clear that he will continue to hold back more substantive support till its deemed necessary, the Washington Post
reported.
He further said that the troops are being deployed to better assess the situation on the ground, where ISIS forces have moved ever nearer to Baghdad.
He added that the US will be prepared to take "targeted and precise military action" if and when the situation on the ground requires it.
Though the possibility of US air strikes against a militant insurgency is still open, he insisted that the US troops would not return to combat in Iraq
