Leaders of Iraq’s Anbar province call for U.S. ground forces to stop IS
ISIS fighters stood Saturday on the verge of taking not just a key Syrian town along the Turkish border, but also an entire province on Baghdad's doorstep -- spurring leaders of that province to urgently plead for U.S. ground troops to halt the Islamist extremist group's rapid, relentless assault. The situation in Anbar, just to the […]Laura Smith-Spark, Ben Wedeman, and Greg Botelho write for CNN:
ISIS fighters stood Saturday on the verge of taking not just a key Syrian town along the Turkish border, but also an entire province on Baghdad's doorstep -- spurring leaders of that province to urgently plead for U.S. ground troops to halt the Islamist extremist group's rapid, relentless assault. The situation in Anbar, just to the west of Baghdad, is "very bad," said Sabah Al-Karhout, the president of Anbar Provincial Council. ISIS, the self-proclaimed "Islamic State" which also is referred to as ISIL, controls about 80% of the province. Reports Saturday suggest they have encircled Haditha, the last large town in Anbar province not yet in the militants' hands.
Should all of Anbar fall, the Sunni extremists would rule from the perimeter of Iraq's capital to Raqqa in Syria (at least), according to the provincial council's deputy head, Falleh al-Issawi. ISIS threatens area near Baghdad Gen. Wesley Clark: ISIS fight is Iraq redux Iraqi refugees flee from ISIS
To stave off Anbar's collapse, provincial leaders have asked Iraq's central government to intervene immediately and for U.S. ground forces to be deployed there, said al-Issawi.
