Carter in Baghdad with plans to retake Mosul and 560 more US troops

The United States will send 560 more troops to Iraq to help establish the newly retaken air base of Qayara as a staging hub for the oft-deferred battle to recapture Mosul from the Islamic State, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Monday on an unannounced visit to Baghdad. Most of the new troops will be devoted to the build-up of the air base, about 40 miles south of Mosul, and include engineers, logistics personnel and other forces. Carter said they will help Iraqi security battalions as needed to encircle and eventually retake the key city in ISIS hands since 2014.