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U.S. Deploys New Unit to Iraq; Pentagon Says 15,000 Rebels Needed for Syria Win

HeadlineSep 29, 2014

In Iraq, the Pentagon has deployed a division headquarters unit for the first time since the U.S. withdrawal in 2011. The 200 soldiers from the Army’s 1st Infantry Division headquarters will joins the estimated 1,200 U.S. troops already inside Iraq. Speaking at the Pentagon, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, said he believes as many as 15,000 rebels will be needed to defeat ISIS in Syria. The United States is currently training around 5,000.

General Martin Dempsey: “There has to be a ground component to the campaign against ISIL in Syria, and we believe that the path to develop that is the Syrian moderate opposition. Five thousand has never been the end state. We’ve had estimates anywhere from 12,000 to 15,000, is what we believe they would need to recapture lost territory in eastern Syria. And I am confident that we can establish their training if we do it right.”

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