U.S. Intensifying Its Military Commitment To Iraq

American troops and equipment have begun arriving at Al Asad Air Base in Anbar Province. American commanders say their goal is to train 5,000 Iraqi recruits every six weeks. Credit Ayman Oghanna for The New York Times

Washington Post: U.S. advisers in Iraq stay out of combat but see fighting edging closer

WNU Editor: U.S. soldiers who are on the ground may be staying away from the combat .... but the U.S. air force has certainly been busy over the skies of Iraq and Syria this past week .... New Year bomb attack on ISIS: America launches TWENTY NINE air strikes over Syria and Iraq in blitz against extremists (Daily Mail)

Update: U.S. Troops, Back in Iraq, Train a Force to Fight ISIS (New York Times)

Update #2: It appears that the U.S. is preparing the Iraqi army to launch a counteroffensive sometime in 2015 .... Counteroffensive in Iraq to Push Back Islamic State Planned for 2015 (Wall Street Journal).

Update #3: It appears that confidence for a successful military campaign against the Islamic State is low .... The new Iraq War is doomed (Reese Erlich, Al Jazeera)