--- title: U.S. to Deploy 100 New Special Operations Personnel in Iraq description: The troops will “conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence and capture" ISIS leaders, a Pentagon official said at a press briefing. canonical: https://time.com/4134302/iraq-us-special-operation-forces-isis/ author: Mark Rivett-Carnac article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-03T08:12:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T13:04:15.837Z article:section: Politics og:title: U.S. to Deploy 100 Special Operations Personnel to Iraq og:description: The troops will help conduct raids, free hostages and gather intelligence og:url: https://time.com/4134302/iraq-us-special-operation-forces-isis/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ea57e1a06aca0c3/698873a10a4a2222309c74d6/gettyimages-469482094.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: U.S. Military Trains Iraqi Army og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.S. to Deploy 100 Special Operations Personnel to Iraq twitter:description: The troops will help conduct raids, free hostages and gather intelligence twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ea57e1a06aca0c3/698873a10a4a2222309c74d6/gettyimages-469482094.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # U.S. to Deploy 100 Special Operations Personnel to Iraq by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Dec 3, 2015 8:12 AM UTC  U.S. Army trainers instruct Iraqi Army recruits at a military base on April 12, 2015 in Taji, Iraq U.S. Army trainers instruct Iraqi Army recruits at a military base on April 12, 2015 in Taji, IraqJohn Moore—Getty Images by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Dec 3, 2015 8:12 AM UTC The U.S. will deploy around 100 special operations troops to Iraq to assist in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) U.S. Army Colonel Steve Warren [confirmed](http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/632421/department-of-defense-press-briefing-by-col-warren-via-teleconference-from-bagh) at a Department of Defense press briefing Wednesday. Described as a [specialized](http://time.com/4131047/us-special-ops-iraq-isis/) expeditionary targeting force, the troops will “conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence and capture ISIL leaders,” Warren said, using an alternative acronym for ISIS. The majority of the personnel will support the Iraqi army and Kurdish Peshmerga, with a smaller number of “trigger-pullers” conducting operations in Iraq and across the border in Syria, he added. The 100 commandos join the 3,500 U.S. troops already stationed in Iraq. Although Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi welcomed the assistance, Reuters also [reported](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/12/02/us-mideast-crisis-usa-military-idUSKBN0TK50G20151202#ym15Kqi30mrUgTAZ.97) him as saying that Iraq did not need foreign ground combat troops. Any special operations would require Iraqi approval, Abadi said. The deepening involvement comes a little more than a month since Washington [agreed](http://time.com/4094510/us-deploy-troops-syria/) to send 50 special operators to Syria in October. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4134302/iraq-us-special-operation-forces-isis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4134302/iraq-us-special-operation-forces-isis/"},"headline":"U.S. to Deploy 100 Special Operations Personnel to Iraq","datePublished":"2015-12-03T08:12:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:04:15.837Z","description":"Some troops may also conduct unilateral operations into Syria","url":"https://time.com/4134302/iraq-us-special-operation-forces-isis/","keywords":["Foreign Policy","Military","Iraq","ISIS","Combat","us"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ea57e1a06aca0c3/698873a10a4a2222309c74d6/gettyimages-469482094.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Rivett-Carnac","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ea57e1a06aca0c3/698873a10a4a2222309c74d6/gettyimages-469482094.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. Military Trains Iraqi Army","caption":"U.S. Military Trains Iraqi Army","creditText":"John Moore—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/foreign-policy/","name":"Foreign Policy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4134302/iraq-us-special-operation-forces-isis/","name":"U.S. to Deploy 100 Special Operations Personnel to Iraq"}}]}] ```