Foreign Policy

Mother may I? U.S. special operations troops in Daesh ‘ISIS’ fight frustrated with limited role

Special operations troops say they should be doing more in the war against Daesh, or the ‘Islamic State‘, complaining of strict rules of engagement and White House limits on troop numbers in Iraq and Syria.

Two years after the U.S. went to war, American commandos in relatively small numbers are in at least five countries under Daesh assault: Syria, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and Yemen.

But their role is mostly to train, advise and assist — a limitation that keeps them at arm’s length when local allies go into battle. Overall, the number of deployed American special operations personnel is about a third less today than it was during the troop surges for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

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Special operations troops say they should be doing more in the war against Daesh, or the ‘Islamic State‘, complaining of strict rules of engagement and White House limits on troop numbers in Iraq and Syria.

Two years after the U.S. went to war, American commandos in relatively small numbers are in at least five countries under Daesh assault: Syria, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and Yemen.

But their role is mostly to train, advise and assist — a limitation that keeps them at arm’s length when local allies go into battle. Overall, the number of deployed American special operations personnel is about a third less today than it was during the troop surges for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The Washington Times interviewed a senior special operations officer who spoke about the frustration of not being able to conduct a series of direct raids on Daesh leaders.

“We have to say, ‘Mother may I?’ to the White House for any expansion of authorities,” said this war veteran, who asked not to be identified.

This officer indicated that targets are passed up if it is determined that the Daesh commander is operating and moving with civilians in tow.

Read More: Washington Times

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The SOFREP News Team is a collective of professional military journalists. Brandon Tyler Webb is the SOFREP News Team's Editor-in-Chief. Guy D. McCardle is the SOFREP News Team's Managing Editor. Brandon and Guy both manage the SOFREP News Team.

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