Obama to send 200 more troops into Iraq

Obama to send 200 more troops into Iraq
(Image credit: Pool/Getty Images)

President Obama announced Monday that he would send as many as 200 additional U.S. troops to Iraq to counter the worsening crisis there. The move comes two weeks after the president sent 300 military advisers to Iraq to bolster the embattled government.

The new wave of troops will defend the U.S. Embassy in Iraq and the Baghdad International Airport. In a letter notifying Congress of the deployment, Obama said the troops are "equipped for combat" and will remain in Iraq until they are "no longer needed."

Despite the small deployments, Obama has insisted that the U.S. will not launch a full-scale ground campaign to beat back the Sunni insurgents who have battled the Iraqi government.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.