WASHINGTON, August 8 (RIA Novosti) – The United States will help Iraq fight Islamic State extremists only after the formation of the inclusive government, the press secretary of the White House Josh Earnest said Friday.
“The United States stands ready to support formation of an inclusive government in Iraq. Once that government has formed, we would anticipate and we will certainly be continuing to urge that government to pursue an inclusive governing agenda, so they can unite the country to confront the threat that is posed by ISIL [Islamic state] and it includes, where necessary, the deployment of [American] military force,” Earnest said.
The White House spokesman also said that US military support will focus on protecting American personnel in Iraq and on helping to resolve the humanitarian situation on Sinjar mountain.
Earnest stressed, that American military support will not be offered in a form of a “prolonged military conflict” and will not involve American troops returning to Iraq.
Earlier on Friday, Pentagon said that US combat aircraft conducted an airstrike on positions of Islamic State (IS) militants fighting in Iraq against Kurdish forces defending the city of Erbil.
The White House press secretary did not say whether new airstrikes on Islamic State positions are planned.
The Islamic State is a Sunni group that has been fighting in Syria and launched an offensive in Iraq in June. The group has taken over large parts of the country, with the goal of seizing Baghdad. Also in June, the group announced the establishment of a caliphate on the Iraq-Syria border.
Iraqi Kurds have already re-established military cooperation with Baghdad in an effort to drive the IS fighters back. Like Moscow, the United Nations Security Council has called on all Iraqi communities to unite and respond to the threat to Iraq’s future.
