A visual guide to military deployment changes under Obama
President Obama announced Wednesday that 450 additional military trainers would be sent to Iraq in the fight against ISIS as U.S. forces open a fifth base in Iraq dedicated to training Iraqi soldiers. Pentagon officials insisted that the troops would not take a combative role and that the military strategy was not changing, simply trying to help Sunni tribes join the Iraqi Army.
The main objective of the increased support is to push the extremists out of Ramadi, which was seized last month. The announcement comes immediately after the ending of the G-7 summit held in Germany where ISIS was a key topic. Mounting internal pressure within the United States likely forced the president's hand as well.
WH: "President authorized the deployment of up to 450 additional U.S. military personnel to train, advise, and assist Iraqi Security Forces"
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) June 10, 2015
June 10, 2014 ISIS took Mosul, Iraq. Obama said he would work on a plan & announced his plan today-ONE year to the day-800 boots on ground.
— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) June 11, 2015
Interactive visuals collected by FindTheBest based on information from time-series.findthedata.com and insidegov.com offer a new perspective of U.S. airstrikes on ISIS and military deployment under the Obama Administration.
The U.S. public is divided over their role in the ISIS conflicts taking place abroad. Military deployment in the Middle East has remained consistent under the Obama Administration while presence in other locations has increased or declined.
U.S. Military Deployment Under the Obama Administration InsideGov
To get a better idea of how this compares to past presidents' terms, take a look at the following chart that extends back to Pres. George H. W. Bush's administration in 1990.
U.S. Active Duty Military Personnel Over Time InsideGov
But while avoiding putting "boots on the ground" in combat situation the U.S. has helped to aid local forces with airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. The following chart shows how, on a whole, more strikes have been directed at the ISIS presence within Iraq.
U.S. Airstrikes On ISIS in Iraq and Syria FindTheBest
Although the strikes are more heavily focused on Iraq, Kobani, Syria, has been the most targeted location overall, as demonstrated by the following graph.
Most Heavily Hit ISIS Territories FindTheBest
