Obama sends more Special Forces to Syria to help battle IS
 

HA**VER: President Barack Obama an**unced on Monday the biggest expansion of US ground troops in Syria since its civil war began, but the move was unlikely to mollify Arab allies angry over Washington´s cautious approach to the conflict.

The deployment of up to 250 Special Forces soldiers increases US forces in Syria roughly six-fold and is aimed at helping militia fighters who have clawed back territory from Islamic State in a string of victories.

Defense experts said giving more fighters on the ground access to US close air support could shift the momentum in Syria. But a senior member of the Saudi royal family who asked **t to be identified dismissed the decision as "window dressing.

"In an**uncing the deployment, Obama emphasized the importance of sustaining the gains made in the fight against Islamic State, although he cautioned that the US forces would **t be spearheading the battle.

"They´re **t going to be leading the fight on the ground, but they will be essential in providing the training and assisting local forces as they continue to drive ISIL back," he said in a speech in the German city of Ha**ver, using an acronym for Islamic State, also k**wn as ISIS or Daesh.

Obama was speaking on the last stop of a foreign tour that has taken him to Saudi Arabia and Britain. The US military has led an air campaign against Islamic
State since 2014 in both Iraq and Syria, but its effectiveness in Syria has been limited by a lack of allies on the ground in a country where a complex, multi-sided civil war has raged for five years.

A Russian air campaign launched in Syria last year has been more effective because it is closely coordinated with the government of President Bashar al-Assad, who is Moscow´s ally but a foe of the United States.

Rising tensions with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab monarchies, which have privately criticized the Obama administration´s security policy toward the region, also have complicated the US effort in Syria.

Hillary Clinton´s presidential campaign praised the deployment. "These Special Forces will continue to provide critical support to local forces on the ground who ultimately must be the ones to win this fight," it said in a statement.



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