US Army trainers instruct Iraqi Army recruits at a military base in Taji, Iraq, in April. Press TV
Eli Lake & Josh Rogin, Bloomberg: Iraq Doesn't Want the Ground Troops Hawks Are Offering
As the U.S. special operations presence in Iraq grows, President Barack Obama's diplomats are promising its government he has no intention of sending large contingents of combat troops to join those well-trained fighters already on the ground. There is a good reason for this: Iraq and Iran don't want them.
U.S. officials tell us Iraq's prime minister, Haidar al-Abadi, has asked the U.S. for more equipment, more training and more air support. But he has been clear that his government opposes any influx of U.S. combat troops like those that fought inside Iraq between 2003 and 2011. "Ground troops at this point is just not politically sustainable in Iraq," one senior State Department official said. This official added that Baghdad's opposition to ground forces "put a ceiling" on what the U.S. could offer militarily.
WNU Editor: The U.S. has the same reputation in Iraq that Russia has in Afghanistan .... a population that is hostile to them because of the past. The only difference is that in Russia they know that this negative sentiment against them exists in Afghanistan .... but when it comes to the U.S. in Iraq, many U.S. politicians have chosen to ignore Iraqi opinion .... Two Senior U.S Senators Want To Deploy 20,000 U.S. Soldiers To Iraq And Syria.
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