Pentagon Recommends Sending 250 More Troops To Syria

CNN reports: WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is considering sending 250 additional U.S. special forces to Syria to advise rebel groups as part of a broader Pentagon recommendation on how to increase the pace of operations against ISIS, a U.S. defense official said.

The goal is to lay the groundwork for local forces to retake both Raqqa, Syria, and Mosul, Iraq, and eliminate ISIS’ ability to use them as areas from which to plan external attacks.

President Barack Obama emphasized the importance of that goal after a meeting with top commanders at the White House earlier this week.

“We should no longer tolerate the kinds of positioning that is enabled by them having headquarters in Raqqa and Mosul. We’ve got to keep on putting the pressure on them,” Obama said Tuesday.

An increased level of special forces is just one of a number of possibilities.