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US Service Member Killed In Iraq. In Other Words, We Have ‘Boots On The Ground’

   DailyWire.com

On Thursday, a US service member was killed by an IED blast close by the ISIS stronghold of Mosul in northern Iraq.

Since the operation to liberate Mosul began earlier this week, Islamic State militants have launched a series of attacks against coalition units, including Iraqi security forces and Kurdish peshmerga fighters, in a desperate attempt to retain control of Iraq’s second largest city. American special forces and armed humvee units are currently stationed on the outskirts of Mosul, training and advising the men that will ultimately seek to retake the city.

While the Obama administration has attempted to downplay the involvement of US assets on the frontlines in Iraq, the latest American casualty shines the spotlight on an inconvenient truth: Yes, we have “boots on the ground.”

“American forces will also be exposed to greater risk during the operation, as U.S. advisers accompany local units closer to the front lines. Already, over 100 advisers are providing assistance to Iraqi forces, helping to coordinate air and artillery attacks, relaying intelligence, and assisting with tactical planning,” explains The Washington Post, adding:

The White House has authorized U.S. commanders to place advisers with Iraqi army battalions as they advance, similar to the advising they currently conduct with peshmerga and elite counterterrorism forces. The use of U.S. Apache attack helicopters is another element of additional risk facing the U.S. military in the Mosul operation.

Thursday marked the fourth US combat casualty since President Obama’s 2014 announcement of renewed military involvement in Iraq. The announcement followed a massive uptick in sectarian violence as a result of the power vacuum left by the White House’s politically expedient decision to acquiesce to populist demands at home and abruptly pull American soldiers out of the active battlefields of Iraq. Call it Mission Unaccomplished.

The US military has remained relatively tight-lipped about details of the incident that led to the death of the American service member on Thursday.

According to military officials, the unidentified service member was struck by an improvised explosive device “near Mosul” and later succumbed to his injuries. The military suggested that it would release the name of the deceased after the service member’s family has been notified.

Defense officials have not commented on the duties assigned to the service member at the time of his death.

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