title: US BOOTS: US Marines Deployed For Ground Combat in Iraq (to defend oil fields)
text: 21st Century Wire says Back to square one. Quietly, president Barack Obama is deploying more and more US troops in Iraq, not necessarily to  fight ISIS , but firstly to guard the Iraqi oil fields.Notice how this announcement is perfectly timed with the Iraqi Army s military offensive this week to retake the supposed  ISIS stronghold  of Mosul in Northern Iraq.Will a new Kurdistan rise from the ashes of this geopolitical conundrum, or will it just be more instability?There s more to this new trend than meets the eye. Watch this space  Fighting Centers on Key Town of MakhmurJason Ditz  Antiwar.comEven as Pentagon officials have sought to emphasize their claims of ISIS being  on the run,  ever more US ground troops are being deployed into Iraq to try to cope with ISIS offensives, with the battle of Makhmur leading to the introduction of US Marines in front-line combat roles.Officials are trying to downplay the operation as  force protection  for Iraqi ground troops, who have been massing in the area in an effort to ultimately launch an attack on the ISIS-held city of Mosul, not far away.The explanation is unsatisfying for several reasons, but primarily because this  tactical assembly area  already includes thousands of Iraqi troops and Kurdish Peshmerga, and these are the same troops who are supposed to attack Mosul. Yet these troops are apparently unable to even hold Makhmur, let alone advance toward Mosul.The Makhmur District is also a key to holding oil fields around Kirkuk, and the ISIS offensive is seen by many analysts as part of an effort to ultimately regain control over those lucrative oil fields, and have been  outgunning  the thousands of Iraqi troops in the area.Whether they re trying to save Iraqi ground troops who still can t stand up to ISIS, or save oil fields, however, the latest escalation puts US troops even further in harm s way, and has put the war even further afield from the  no boots on the ground  affair initially promised by the Obama Administration.READ MORE IRAQ NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Iraq Files