Pentagon says armed drones now flying over Baghdad to protect US troops and civilians
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE -This July 17, 2008 file photo shows Mark Bigham, director of business development for US Raytheon Tactical Intelligence Systems, pointing to downtown Baghdad, Iraq, on a screen of the newly-unveiled control system for unmanned drones at the Farnborough aerospace show, in Farnborough, England. A Pentagon official says the U.S. has started flying armed drones over Baghdad to protect U.S. civilians and military forces in the Iraqi capital. The official said the flights started in the last 24 to 48 hours to bolster manned and unmanned reconnaissance flights the military has been sending over violence-wracked Iraq in recent weeks. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the new flights on the record. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File) (The Associated Press)
The U.S. has armed drones flying over Baghdad to protect U.S. troops that recently arrived to assess Iraq's deteriorating security, the Pentagon said Friday.
The military for more than a week has been flying manned and unmanned aircraft over Iraq, averaging a few dozen sorties daily for reconnaissance. The decision to arm some of the drones follows the deployment to Baghdad of troops who will advise and assist Iraqi counterterrorism forces.
"The reason that some of those aircraft are armed is primarily for force protection reasons now that we have introduced into the country some military advisers whose objective will be to operate outside the confines of the embassy," the Defense Department's press secretary, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, told a Pentagon press conference.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Using U.S. air assets to target the leaders of the Sunni-led insurgency is one of the options being prepared for President Barack Obama as he considers what support to provide to Iraq, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, told NPR in an interview. Protection of critical infrastructure is part of that option, he said.
"We're flying a great deal (of) manned and unmanned ... intelligence and reconnaissance assets, and we're building a picture so that if the decision were made to support the Iraqi security forces as they confront (ISIS), we could do so," Dempsey said.
So far, 180 of 300 troops promised by Obama have arrived in the country. That's 90 advisers and 90 who are setting up an operations and intelligence analysis unit.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A handful of Predators armed with Hellfire missiles are being used over the capital for the new force protection mission, a senior defense official said. The official was not authorized to discuss the new flights on the record and requested anonymity.
Officials stressed that Obama still has not authorized airstrikes against Sunni militants who have been overrunning territory in other parts of the country.