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General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff on Thursday said that Iraqi forces were shored up around Baghdad but will need external help to regain some of the territory it lost to the militant offensive sweeping across the nation. He added that American military advisers were evaluating the Iraqi army’s condition, and suggested that US military action was not forthcoming.
In an news conferee, Dempsey said that Iraqi forces are not in a position to launch a counter-offensive, after it had, in recent weeks, driven back by the militant offensive. US advisers in Baghdad say that Iraqi security forces are”stiffening, that they’re capable of defending Baghdad”, Dempsey said, adding that they found that the security forces would, however, “be challenged to go on the offense, mostly logistically challenged.”
“If you are asking me will the Iraqis, at some point, be able to go back on the offensive to recapture the part of Iraq that they’ve lost… probably not by themselves”, he said.
However, the shortcomings of the Iraqi army doesn’t necessarily mean that the US will take military action, Dempsey said.
“I’m not suggesting that that’s the direction this is headed.”
Two hundred US military advisers were sent to Baghdad to assess the condition of the Iraqi army and threat militants from the Islamic State (IS) pose. The advisers have set up command centers in Erbil and in Baghdad, Dempsey said.
Nearly 500 US soldiers have also been sent to Iraq in addition to the advisers to help bolster security in parts of Baghdad airport and at the American embassy.
Both Dempsey and US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel insisted that US soldiers in Iraq are not on a combat mission, but did leave the door open for the possibility of US President Barack Obama opting for air strikes against IS militants in the future.
Dempsey added that the role of US soldier in Baghdad was “very different” than in 2003, when US forces invaded Iraq and waged war against insurgents till it started withdrawing in 2011.
“I mean, assessing, advising and enabling are very different roads than attacking, defeating and disrupting”, he said.
