US Officials: Military Mulling More Troops To Iraq

Sailors push missiles on the flight deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014 in the Persian Gulf. Aircrafts aboard the George H.W. Bush are flying missions over Iraq after ... Sailors push missiles on the flight deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014 in the Persian Gulf. Aircrafts aboard the George H.W. Bush are flying missions over Iraq after U.S. President Barack Obama authorized airstrikes against Islamic militants and food drops for Iraqis trapped by the fighters. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali) MORE LESS
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WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say military planners are weighing the possibility of sending more American forces to Iraq mainly to provide additional security around Baghdad.

A senior U.S. official says the number of troops currently under discussion would be fewer than 300, but there has been no final decision yet by Pentagon leaders.

The talks come as American fighter jets and drones conducted nearly a dozen airstrikes in Iraq since Tuesday when Islamic State militants threatened to kill a second American captive in retribution for any continued attacks.

A U.S. official says the strikes came in the hours after militants released a gruesome video Tuesday showing U.S. journalist James Foley being beheaded.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  1. If the decision is made to send troops back into Iraq to combat ISIL. I will support this decision as it’s obvious ISIL is a threat to this country and American’s.

  2. For anyone who hasn’t been paying attention, a deal was made here, of course - you dump Bush’s double-dealer would-be puppet Maliki and we’ll see if we can pull your cookies out of fire.

    One of the unheralded mega-failures of Bush war was selecting Maliki (of all the hostile figures!) on top of the kangaroo elections of 2005.

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