U.S. to send new troops to Iraq even before Congress OKs funds

Iraqi security forces take part in an intensive security deployment against Islamic State militants in Adhaim, a village in Diyala province north of Baghdad November 13, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some of the 1,500 new U.S. troops authorized to advise and train Iraqi forces in their fight against Islamic State militants will deploy to the country in the next few weeks without waiting for Congress to fund the mission, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said leading elements of the U.S. force would begin moving to Iraq in the coming weeks, even if Congress has not yet acted on a $5.6 billion supplemental request to fund the expanded fight against the militants who overran northwestern Iraq earlier this year.