More U.S. Troops Will Be in Combat in Iraq: Military Official

The U.S. special operation forces headed to Iraq won't be sitting on the sidelines in the fight against ISIS — they'll be in combat, a top military official said Wednesday.

"A raid is a combat operation, there's no way around that," said Colonel Steve Warren, the Baghdad-based spokesman for the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve.

Warren said the new force will add about 100 "highly skilled commandos" to the roughly 3,500 already in Iraq, thus "raising the force cap."

The missions will be "exceptionally well-planned" and "very well-targeted," Warren said.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced the deployment on Tuesday during a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee.

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