JERUSALEM — The Obama administration is nearing a decision on how to improve and accelerate the training of Iraqi security forces in light of recent setbacks against the Islamic State, including the possibility of setting up new training camps in the province of Anbar, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
U.S. officials said the administration was considering sending up to 500 additional U.S. troops. The changes are aimed at bolstering the participation of Sunni tribes in the fight, but the plan is not likely to include the deployment of U.S. forces closer to the front lines to either call in airstrikes or advise smaller Iraqi units in battle, officials said.
The White House said it was considering “a range of options” to accelerate the training and equipping of Iraq’s military, suggesting no final decisions have been made on the details of the plan.
“Those options include sending additional trainers to Iraq,” said Alistair Baskey, a spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council.
Other officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said earlier that the number could be end up as high as 1,000.
