US ready to send advisers, helicopters to Iraq to help retake Ramadi
The United States is prepared to deploy advisers and attack helicopters if requested by Iraq to help it "finish the job" of retaking the city of Ramadi from Islamic State, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on December 9.
Carter's remarks were the latest sign of US preparations to intensify its military campaign against the group, which controls wide swaths of Iraq and Syria and has orchestrated and inspired attacks abroad.
Islamic State captured Ramadi, a provincial capital just a short drive west of Baghdad, in May in its biggest conquest since last year. Retaking it would be a major victory for Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
Carter, speaking at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, said it has taken a "frustratingly long time" for Iraqi security forces to claw back territory.
But he pointed to significant gains, including recapturing the Anbar Operations Center on the northern bank of the Euphrates River in the past 24 hours.
"The United States is prepared to assist the Iraqi Army with additional unique capabilities to help them finish the job, including attack helicopters and accompanying advisers, if circumstances dictate and if requested by Prime Minister Abadi," Carter said.
A US defense official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the US advisers would be prepared to provide advice to Iraqi security forces on how to move through the center of Ramadi over the next several weeks.
The White House cautioned later on December 9 that President Barack Obama had not yet approved the use of the helicopters, and that Abadi would first have to request such support.
"Any decision like this would only come at the request of Prime Minister Abadi, and after explicit sign-off from the president of the United States," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. "And that sign-off has not been given at this point."