Islam Times - US military accelerating fight against ISIL: Pentagon chief

Islam Times - Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel says the United States considers accelerating the fight against the ISIL terrorist group in Iraq and Syria.

He said on Sunday that the US military wanted to “accelerate the mission of preparing for training and equipping and the things that we need to do to start setting that up.”

Last week, President Barack Obama authorized dispatching up to 1,500 American forces to Iraq.

The Pentagon chief told reporters traveling with him to Fort Irwin, Calif that American troops arrived in Iraq “in the last couple of days.”

The Obama administration has insisted that US troops in Iraq will not be engaged in direct combat.

However, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey said last week that the Pentagon was considering the deployment of combat troops to Iraq.

The Pentagon has so far conducted airstrikes against the ISIL terrorists in Iraq and Syria.

The US-led airstrikes targeting the ISIL terrorists cost the country more than $8.3 million per day, according to the US military.

The Defense Department had previously put the average daily cost of the military offensive at $7.6 million a day.

A Pentagon official said the higher figure reflects the increased pace of airstrikes and related flights.