Iraq must own difficult fight to reclaim Ramadi: U.S. officials

WASHINGTON: The United States will support Iraq’s difficult fight to reclaim lost territory in Ramadi and elsewhere, but the battlefield setback has not prompted consideration of deploying U.S. ground combat forces, U.S. military and civilian officials told Reuters on Monday.

“Having American troops drawn into this fight… (would come) with a host of problems,” said one U.S. military official, speaking on condition of anonymity. A second U.S. military official also said the option was not under consideration.

A civilian U.S. official told Reuters: “What we need is for everybody who is in Iraq to defend Iraq, and in the end, it’s got to be Iraqis.”

“Remember whose country it is and who’s got to take responsibility for it. It’s not the United States, in this case. It’s the Iraqis,” the civilian U.S. official said.

Source:Reuters