NATO Aims to Add Personnel to Iraq Mission From Coalition Fighting ISIS
NATO Aims to Add Personnel to Iraq Mission From Coalition Fighting ISIS by James Marson – Wall Street Journal
BRUSSELS—NATO’s members are aiming to boost the number of training and military advisory personnel at the alliance’s mission in Iraq, in response to President Trump’s call for them to do more in the Middle East, officials said.
Under a proposal that has won broad support among its members, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would reassign trainers to its mission from the U.S.-led global coalition against Islamic State, which is currently outside NATO structures. The proposal could be approved by NATO defense ministers when they hold a scheduled meeting next month, diplomats said.
Mr. Trump’s request earlier this month in a telephone call with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg caught U.S. and other officials at the alliance by surprise, officials say. The new proposal would allow the alliance to respond quickly to the appeal from its most important member without opening a politically fraught debate over committing more troops to the region…
