State as U.S.-backed fighters accelerate the offensive in Syria and Iraq, U.S. officials told Reuters.
Proponents of
the option, which has not been previously reported, said it would provide U.S.
commanders on the ground greater flexibility to quickly respond to unforeseen
opportunities and challenges on the battlefield.
It would also
represent a step away from standard practices under President Barack Obama's
administration by leaving the ultimate decision on whether to deploy some of
those Kuwait-based reserve forces in Syria or Iraq to local commanders.
"This is
about providing options," said one U.S. official, who spoke on condition
of anonymity.
The officials
said the deployment would differ from the existing U.S. troop presence in
Kuwait.
It was unclear
whether the proposal had the support of U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who
could opt to use other tools to give commanders more agility.
Pentagon
spokesman Captain Jeff Davis declined to comment on options being weighed by
the Trump administration.
Obama's
administration was often accused of micromanaging even the smallest tactical
details about the fight against Islamic State, weighing in on the use of
helicopters or movement of small numbers of U.S. forces.
It also set
limits on U.S. deployments that would be adjusted incrementally, a strategy
meant to avoid mission creep by the military and prevent military moves that
might seem good on the battlefield but which could have inadvertent diplomatic
or political consequences. Such limits are now under scrutiny.
The decision
on whether to create a more rapidly deployable Kuwait-based force is part of
the ongoing review of the United States' strategy to defeat Islamic State in
Iraq and Syria, where around 6,000 U.S. troops are deployed, largely in
advisory roles, the officials said.
Trump has made
defeating Islamic State one of the key goals of his presidency.
U.S. officials
have acknowledged the review may lead to an increase in American troops in
Syria, where U.S.-backed Arab and Kurdish forces are isolating the city of
Raqqa - Islamic State's de facto capital - ahead of an assault.
But they have
so far played down expectations of a major escalation or dramatic shift in a
strategy that has focused on training and advising local ground forces,
pointing to successes so far in Syria and the steady advance of Iraqi forces in
the campaign to retake the city of Mosul.
RAQQA BATTLE
LOOMS
Trump's push
against Islamic State in Syria could soon present him with an unenviable
decision on whether to risk alienating NATO ally Turkey by relying on the
U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, which, in addition to Arabs,
includes Kurdish YPG fighters.
Ankara views
the YPG as the Syrian extension of the Kurdish PKK militant group, which has
fought an insurgency in Turkey's southeast since 1984 and is considered a
terrorist group by both the United States and the European Union.
A senior
Turkish official said on Tuesday that the United States had decided to go with
the YPG, instead of agreeing to Ankara's call for it to instead back Syrian
rebels that Turkey has trained and led against Islamic State for the past year.
The comments
came on the same day that the top U.S. military officer, Marine General Joseph
Dunford, met his Turkish counterpart in the southern Turkish province of
Antalya.
A U.S. defense
official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Dunford did not inform his
Turkish counterpart of any decision about the Raqqa offensive, in remarks that
appeared at odds with the Turkish account.
In a sign of
advancing U.S. preparations for Raqqa, an American official said on Wednesday
that a small group of Marines have entered Syria.
The Washington
Post said the Marines were from an amphibious task force and were establishing
an artillery outpost to support the Raqqa offensive.
Pentagon
spokesman Marine Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said he could not comment on
future or ongoing U.S. deployments.
*REUTERS
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