With Trump approval, Pentagon expands warfighting authority
WASHINGTON
(AP) — Week by week, country by country, the Pentagon is quietly
seizing more control over warfighting decisions, sending hundreds more
troops to war with little public debate and seeking greater authority to
battle extremists across the Middle East and Africa.
This
week it was Somalia, where President Donald Trump gave the U.S.
military more authority to conduct offensive airstrikes on
al-Qaida-linked militants. Next week it could be Yemen, where military
leaders want to provide more help for the United Arab Emirates' battle
against Iranian-backed rebels. Key decisions on Iraq, Syria and
Afghanistan are looming, from ending troop number limits to loosening
rules that guide commanders in the field.
The
changes in Trump's first two months in office underscore his
willingness to let the Pentagon manage its own day-to-day combat. Under
the Obama administration, military leaders chafed about micromanagement
that included commanders needing approval for routine tactical decisions
about targets and personnel moves.
But
delegating more authority to the Pentagon — and combat decisions to
lower level officers — carries its own military and political risks.
Casualties, of civilians and American service members, may be the
biggest.
The
deepening involvement in counterinsurgency battles, from the
street-by-street battles being fought in Iraq right now to clandestine
raids in Yemen and elsewhere, increases the chances of U.S. troops
dying. Such tragedies could raise the ire of the American public and
create political trouble with Congress at a time when the Trump
administration is trying to finish off the Islamic State group in Iraq
and Syria and broaden efforts against similarly inspired groups.
Similarly,
allowing lower level commanders to make more timely airstrike decisions
in densely populated areas like the streets of Mosul, Iraq, can result
in more civilian deaths. The U.S. military already is investigating
several bombings in Mosul in mid-March that witnesses say killed at
least 100 people. And it is considering new tactics and precautions amid
evidence suggesting extremists are smuggling civilians into buildings
and then baiting the U.S.-led coalition into attacking.
Alice
Hunt Friend, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies, cited yet another concern: Military operations
becoming "divorced from overall foreign policy" could make both civilian
leaders and the military vulnerable to runaway events.
"Political leaders can lose control of military campaigns," she warned.
But
top military leaders say they need to be able to act quicker against
U.S. enemies. And they've been staunchly supported by Trump, who has
promised to pursue Islamic extremists more aggressively and echoed the
view of Pentagon leaders that the Obama administration's tight control
over military operations limited effectiveness.
Explaining
his request for more leeway in Somalia against al-Shabab militants,
Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, head of U.S. Africa Command, told Congress this
month that more flexibility and "timeliness" in decision-making process
was necessary.
Approved by Trump on Wednesday, it was hardly the first military expansion.
The
Defense Department has quietly doubled the number of U.S. forces in
Syria. It has moved military advisers closer to front lines in Iraq. It
has publicly made the case for more troops in Afghanistan.
The
White House is tentatively scheduled this coming week to discuss
providing intelligence, refueling and other assistance to U.A.E. as it
fights Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to officials who weren't
authorized to speak about a confidential meetings and demanded
anonymity.
Some
changes are happening with little fanfare. While there is limited
American appetite for large-scale deployments in Iraq and Syria,
additions are coming incrementally, in the hundreds of forces, not the
thousands.
The
result may be confusing for the public. Trump hasn't eliminated Obama's
troop number limits. Thus, the caps of 503 for Syria and 5,262 for Iraq
are still in effect.
But
the military is ignoring them with White House approval and using an
already-existing loophole to categorize deployments as temporary. For
example, several hundred Marines and soldiers were recently sent to
Syria to assist U.S.-backed Syria forces, including in the fight to
retake IS' self-declared capital of Raqqa. All were deemed temporary so
not counted against the cap.
On
Friday, the Pentagon said that officially there are 5,262 U.S. troops
in Iraq even as officials privately acknowledge at least a couple
thousand more there.
It's
still early in the Trump administration. And as the White House juggles
complex details of several military campaigns, it is dealing with tax
reform, its health care repeal failure, partisan infighting and
expanding investigations into possible Russian ties to his presidential
campaign. Observers say the expanding military power may reflect the
administration's limited "bandwidth" at the moment.
But the military wants some decisions quickly.
Iraqi
forces are trying to complete the recapture of Mosul, IS' stronghold,
and more American advisers closer to the battle can help. U.S.-backed
fighters are closing in on Raqqa and the Pentagon is pushing to
accelerate the effort. Conducting both operations at the same time, the
Pentagon argues, will put a lot of pressure on IS.
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