Top U.S. officials warned that military operations against Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria may last more than three more years and the mission on the Syrian side of the border could eventually expand to involve a no-fly zone or even some American boots on the ground.

Meanwhile, Iran has unexpectedly stepped up its military involvement in Iraq, making U.S. military officials uncomfortable that Iran's Shiite leaders will inflame sectarian tensions and jeopardize the long-term strategy to drain Sunni political support for the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS.

After seven months of U.S. airstrikes, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said there is no clear end in sight for the operation that now involves about 2,700 U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq.

"I wouldn't assure anyone that this will be over in three years or that the campaign will be completed in three years," Carter told lawmakers March 4. He was testifying on Capitol Hill about a proposed law authorizing the use of military force in Iraq that would remain in place only for that limited time.

Carter's comments suggest U.S. officials expect the military mission to extend well beyond the end of President Obama's administration in January 2017.

Top officials signaled that operations in Syria — now limited to airstrikes on Islamic State targets — also could expand as the mission unfolds.

Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said commanders will continue to consider putting small teams of U.S. forces on the ground in Iraq as well as Syria, if needed.

"If the commander on the ground approaches either me or the secretary of defense and believes that the introduction of special operations forces to accompany Iraqis or the new Syrian forces, or JTACS, these skilled folks who can call in close air support, if we believe that's necessary to achieve our objectives, we will make that recommendation," Dempsey told the House Appropriations Committee's defense panel.

For months, the U.S. strategy has focused on Iraq, where American troops are training Iraqi security forces to fight ISIL, in part because the U.S. does not have a clear ally on the ground in Syria.

But that may change as an American-led training program for Syrians gets underway. The U.S. and its coalition partners have screened at least 1,200 moderate Syrian rebels who could become recruits for the training effort based at facilities in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The fight against ISIL in Syria is uniquely complex because the U.S. opposes both the extremists as well as the government and its forces. The Islamic State controls numerous Syrian cities and is waging its own civil war against the Syrian regime of Bashar al Assad.

Retired Marine Gen. John Allen sought to reassure Syrians who might be concerned that the U.S. mission is focused on Iraq. Allen, who was appointed by the White House as a special envoy to help lead the global diplomatic effort against ISIL, said additional support for the Syrians — including a no-fly zone to protect future U.S. allies — is on the table.

"All of those things are under consideration," Allen told a Syrian activist on March 2 at the Atlantic Council in Washington.

"It's important that you not believe that we would not support these fighters," Allen said. "Not only will we train them and ... equip them with the latest weapons systems, but we will also protect them when the time comes."

Concern over Iran

Carter said he is closely monitoring reports that Iran and Shiite militias are taking over the fight against Islamic State militants inside Iraq and potentially fueling sectarian strife in that nation.

U.S. military officials acknowledged on March 2 that they are sitting on the sidelines as the Iraqis launch a major operation in Tikrit, an important Sunni Arab city north of Baghdad that is controlled by ISIL.

Iran is providing open military support to the Iraqi army, with reports suggesting that Iranian military officers, Iranian-backed Shiite militias and Iranian artillery units are operating on the ground alongside Iraqi regular army forces.

"Are you concerned that Iran has basically taken over the fight?" Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., asked during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"I am looking at it with great concern," Carter said.

"Our approach to combating ISIL in Iraq is to work with the Iraqi security forces and a multisectarian government that takes a multisectarian approach to defeating ISIL," he said. "Sectarianism is what brought us to the point where we are, and so I do look at it with concern. We are watching it very closely."

According to numerous reports, the Iranian Quds Force commander, Gen. Qasem Soleimani, was in Iraq directing Shiite militias in their fight against Islamic State militants.

The total fighting force of Iranian-backed militias and Iraqi regular forces has been estimated at up to 30,000, making it the largest operation in Iraq since the U.S. sent more troops to that nation and began airstrikes there last year.

About two-thirds of the force assembled in Tikrit is comprised of Shiite militiamen, Dempsey told senators.

The U.S. military typically considers Iran an adversary, but the two nations share the same goal in Iraq — the defeat of the Sunni Islamic extremists who have seized large parts of western and northern Iraq.

U.S. officials are cautiously hopeful that the Iranians and Shiites can help Iraqi forces expel the ISIL militants from Tikrit. But U.S. officials also worry that involvement of Iranians and Shiite militias in a major battle for a Sunni city could inflame the sectarian tensions that the militants exploit for political support.

Dempsey told lawmakers that the Tikrit operation may signal a new level of direct Iranian involvement in Iraq.

"Iran and its proxies have been inside Iraq since 2004," he said. "This is the most overt conduct of Iranian support in the form of artillery and other things."

Yet Dempsey did not show alarm and said the U.S. should take a wait-and-see approach to Iran's actions.

"Frankly, it will only be a problem if it results in sectarianism," he said.

Carter cited reports suggesting that some Sunni tribal leaders are backing the military operation by the mostly Shiite force.

"If that's true, it is good news because it suggests that it is not purely a Shia-on-Sunni thing," Carter said.

The battle to come

The operation in Tikrit may be a precursor to a larger, decisive battle in Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and the most symbolically important terrain for ISIL.

Tikrit is strategically important because the city sits along the Tigris River north of Baghdad and controlling it will be essential for the Iraqi Army supply lines that will be needed for a push on Mosul.

A major operation in Mosul is imminent, but U.S, defense officials have sent conflicting signals about when the Iraqis would launch a U.S.-supported invasion of the city.

A top U.S. Central Command official told reporters on Feb. 19 that the Iraqis were planning to amass a fighting force of 20,000 to 25,000 troops to invade Mosul in April or May.

But Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, the new commander of the Defense Intelligence Agency, testifying Feb. 26 on Capitol Hill, said Iraq would need six to nine months to prepare its army for a fight in Mosul.

Despite the growing complexity of the mission, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East offered an upbeat assessment of the military campaign in Iraq so far, saying American airstrikes have helped kill more than 8,500 militants loyal to the Islamic State and put their forces in a "defensive crouch."

Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, the chief of U.S. Central Command, said U.S. and coalition partners destroyed hundreds of ISIL military vehicles and degraded the oil wells and refineries that provide the group's primary sources of cash.

"You go back several months ago, ISIL was moving around in large convoy formations, flying a lot of black flags, taking up large swaths of territory. They could no longer do that. And it's principally because of the effects that we've had," Austin told lawmakers March 3.

"We are making progress," he said. "In fact, we're about where we said that we would be in the execution of our military campaign plan, which supports the broader whole-of-government strategy that is designed to counter ISIL."

About Andrew Tilghman

Andrew Tilghman is the executive editor for Military Times. He is a former Military Times Pentagon reporter and served as a Middle East correspondent for the Stars and Stripes. Before covering the military, he worked as a reporter for the Houston Chronicle in Texas, the Albany Times Union in New York and The Associated Press in Milwaukee.

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