WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Slotkin, however, explained site surveys on bases and training facilities in Iraq mean that “we could sufficiently mitigate the risk.”
“There is always a risk whenever we are in Iraq that we could be hit with indirect fire as we have in the past, that we could be attacked,” Slotkin said. “[T]hat is something we consider wherever we go in Iraq.”
The new advisors will train local Sunni recruits from the Anbar province for service in the Iraqi Army to fight against the Islamic State.
US officials said including Sunnis into the predominantly Shia Iraqi Army will alleviate local concerns in Anbar over sectarian bloodletting. Such an approach also aims to sustain the Iraqi government’s presence once areas are cleared of the Islamic State.
