WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said that the Pentagon had not ruled out conducting ground attacks against the Islamic State.
"I am not entirely clear why Iraq reportedly has said it doesn’t need more [military] assistance from the United States," Zakheim said. "If these reports are accurate, perhaps Baghdad is coming under even more pressure from Tehran."
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told NBC News on Wednesday that Baghdad had never asked Washington for direct ground support.
This level of intervention in Syria and Iraq is sorely needed, he claimed, so there probably would not be significant domestic political opposition in the United States.
On Wednesday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it was unaware of any plans to boost ground forces in Iraq.
However, the Pentagon confirmed last week that a Special Operations team had carried out a rescue mission with Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga counterparts near the town of Hawija in northern Iraq. One US soldier was killed during the raid.
