South Asia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin writes for Voice of America on President Obama’s decision to send additional Special Forces troops to the Middle East to assist the coalition against ISIS:
Galvanized by the terrorist attacks in Paris, President Barack Obama is sending another 100-200 Special Forces troops to the Middle East to augment the fight against the group that calls itself the Islamic State (IS).
The decision, revealed Tuesday, is a cautious escalation characteristic of a president who campaigned on a pledge to withdraw U.S. combat troops from the Middle East and South Asia and who does not want to leave office embroiled in another major war.