“The Iraqi forces are capable of liberating Iraqi territories from ISIS without any ground combat forces,” said the war media cell belonging to the joint operation command in a statement on Thursday, according to Iraqi media.
They state that the coalition forces should be limited in their involvement to just an advisory and training role.
“The coalition forces did not take part in installing the bridge on the Tigris River in Mosul, and the role of the coalition forces is limited to consulting, training and air support without any combat role on the ground,” said the war media cell belonging to the joint operation command in a statement on Thursday, according to Iraqi media.
The comments came a day after Col. Christopher Garver, a coalition spokesperson, made a statement on American assistance given to the bridge installation and the role of the US in Iraqi military operations.
“A small group of US combat engineers on July 20 was attached to an Iraqi army battalion to provide advice on how to secure a temporary bridge that the Iraqis had installed over the Tigris River. The bridge is meant for connecting a newly recaptured air base near Qayara on the east side of the river,” Garver said during a teleconference from Baghdad with reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday.
The bridge will “improve maneuverability and shorten lines of communication for the [Iraqi security forces] as they prepare for the eventual assault to liberate Mosul,” Garver added.
Earlier this month the joint operation command announced that “the engineering team could install a bridge between Qayara and Makhmour, between the strips of al-Haj Ali in the east and Ajhala village in the west and has already installed one on the southern front of Mosul.”
“The installation is the great global achievement in finishing it very fast and during military operations,” the joint operation command added.
US troops in Iraq were previously restricted to the division-level headquarters, according to a Military Times report on Wednesday. But in April, President Obama authorized for the first time, US combat advisors to deploy with Iraqi army forces at lower levels including the brigade and battalion levels.
The total number of coalition troops in Iraq is about 7,000, but so far the main role they played was in air support and to train Iraqi security forces.
“The international coalition conducted 70 air strikes against Daesh [ISIS] in Iraq last week,” Garver told the Middle East Monitor on July 25, “and it trained 23,750 members of the Iraqi security forces.”
Addressing US troops who are preparing to be deployed in Iraq, Ashton Carter, US Defense Secretary, told them that he has confidence that the American soldiers can do the job, and he affirmed that the US continues support to the Peshmerga and Iraqi forces.
“We’ve seized opportunities, reinforced success and taken the fight to the enemy,” Carter said at Fort Bragg in North Carolina on Wednesday. “But we are not going to rest -- and that’s why you’re going to build on those results, continue to take the fight to the enemy, gather more momentum and help deliver ISIL a lasting defeat. I have every confidence that you will.”
“In Iraq, we will continue enabling the dedicated Iraqi security forces and Peshmerga led by Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi and supported by Kurdish Regional President Masoud Barzani -- working by, with, and through the Iraqi government, as we always have.” he added.
