The United States is stepping up its efforts to defeat the Islamic State group by deploying additional special forces to Iraq and Syria.
Washington has been almost exclusively relying on air power until now， but this latest decision shows the Pentagon is coming round to the fact that victory might only be possible with boots on the ground.
Connie Kim reports.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has been laying out Washington′s plan to smash the Islamic State group by deploying elite， black ops forces to Iraq and Syria.
Speaking at the U.S. House Armed Services Committee in Washington on Tuesday， Carter said a new ″targeting force″ would be sent to help Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Iraq.
He also said a team has been cleared to take part in raids inside Syria.
″We are forming an expeditionary targeting force. That′s a force that wouldn′t be on the ground all the time in Syria. It would go in， conduct raids and go out.″
The deployment signals a seismic shift in the Obama administration′s strategy against the militant group.
Up until recently，.. President Obama had ruled out putting boots on the ground.
Carter did not give out the specific number of special forces troops to be sent to Iraq， but said would be a larger than the 50 sent to Syria in October.
He announced the U.S. would deploy 50 special operation forces to work with anti－ISIS fighters in Syria.
Washington′s top military officer was also giving testimony before the committee.
Marine General Joseph Dunford， chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff，... said the U.S. had ″not contained″ ISIS.
His comments contradict remarks made by President Obama last month when he said the U.S. had contained the extremist group.
Adding to concerns， a report by George Washington University on Tuesday identified some 300 U.S.－based ISIS sympathizers.
Since early 2014， more than 70 Americans have been charged with supporting the terrorist organization with a sharp increase in arrests this year.
Connie Kim， Arirang News.
