Alwaght-The Iraqi government has said it does not need any US involvement in ground operations against ISIS terrorist group in the country. This is despite insistence by The Pentagon that it is ready to start sending troops into Iraq.
Iraqi government spokesman Sa'ad al-Hadithi told as US media outlet that, “This is an Iraqi affair and the government did not ask the US Department of Defense to be involved in direct operations.” “We have enough soldiers on the ground,” Hadithi told NBC News.
He pointed out that any involvement of US forces that stretches beyond their “train and advise” mission must be cleared with Baghdad – as mandated under international law. Around 3,300 US troops are involved in the mission in Iraq.
Meanwhile there are reports that russia has reportedly obtained permission from the Iraqi government to target ISIS terrorist group convoys escaping from Syria. Last week Hakem al-Zamli, chief of the Iraqi parliament’s security and defense committee, told Anadolu Agency on that the coordination has contributed to weakening ISIS by cutting off its supply routes.
The authorization for Russia to target ISIS inside Iraq comes following reports of security coordination between Iraq, Russia, Iran and Syria.
US-led anti –terror coalition claims to have been fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria for over one year with no tangible results. Mid-May this year, ISIS terrorists took full control of the central Iraqi city of Ramadi, the provincial capital of al-Anbar. Despite the fact that Ain al-Asad air base hosting US fighter jets was very close to Ramadi, the American military forces took no action to stop the ISIS terrorists fighting to take over the Iraqi city.
Some countries in the US-led so-called anti-terror coalition, including the US itself, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have been the staunch supporters of several terrorist groups including ISIS.