The Obama administration is planning to establish a new military base in Anbar Province, Iraq

[phantom power]

WASHINGTON — In a major shift of focus in the battle against the Islamic State, the Obama administration is planning to establish a new military base in Anbar Province, Iraq, and to send up to 450 more American military trainers to help Iraqi forces retake the city of Ramadi.

...

The additional American troops will arrive as early as this summer, a United States official said, and will focus on training Sunni fighters with the Iraqi Army. The official called the coming announcement “an adjustment to try to get the right training to the right folks.”

The United States Central Command’s emphasis on retaking Mosul depended critically on efforts to retrain the Iraqi Army, which appear to have gotten off to a slow start.

http://www.balloon-juice.com/2015/06/10/only-military-advisors-and-just-a-training-exercise/
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/11/world/middleeast/us-embracing-a-new-approach-on-battling-isis-in-iraq.html

[oldandhappy]

1. really sorry to see this

[bigwillq]

2. The USA needs to end any and all involvement in this region.

to the Obama administration on this one.

[TwilightGardener]

3. So how is this going to work if the Iraqis supposedly don't have "the will to fight" and

have been dismissed as cowards two weeks ago? I mean, if your strategy relies on working with hopeless cowards, then don't do it at all--it's never going to work. If they're actually NOT cowards and might be able to pull off some victories, then stop publicly berating them and trashing their morale and blaming them for losses. I've kind of lost faith in the administration's/Pentagon's handling of this.

[KamaAina]

4. Drip, drip, drip...