Reuters, Washington :
Outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in an interview on Friday the United States might eventually need to send non-combat ground troops to Iraq to help turn back Islamic State forces.
Hagel, who announced his resignation under pressure in November, told CNN all options must be considered in Iraq, including sending troops for non-combat roles such as gathering intelligence and locating Islamic State targets.
“I think it may require a forward deployment of some of our troops …,” he said. “I would say we’re not there yet. Whether we get there or not, I don’t know.”
Hagel’s comments echoed testimony by General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to Congress last fall when he said U.S. troops might have to take a larger role on the ground in Iraq.
Such a deployment would be in addition to the 4,500 U.S. troops already committed to training and advising roles in Iraq.
Hagel also said he had conflicts with White House officials on releasing prisoners from the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
As secretary of defense, Hagel authorized which prisoners would be released and when. He told CNN that the White House did not agree with his cautious approach, saying there were disagreements on “the pace of the releases.”
Asked by CNN if he had been pressured, Hagel said, “we’ve had a lot of conversations” with the White House and Congress on the releases.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Kurdish forces repelled a major attack by the Islamic State militant group in Kirkuk province that killed a top officer on Friday, while violence elsewhere left at least 19 people dead.
The IS assault on areas south and west of the northern city of Kirkuk began at around midnight, sparking fighting with medium and heavy weapons in which the militants were ultimately held off.
Kirkuk Governor Najm al Din Karim said Kurdish forces, supported by US-led air strikes, “foiled the Daesh (IS) attacks” which were “carried out towards oil and gas facilities and stations… from three directions leading to the city of Kirkuk. “Damage to Kirkuk oil facilities would pose a serious problem for Iraq, which is counting on crude exports of 300,000 barrels per day from the oil-rich province in its 2015 budget.
Brig Gen Shirko Rauf and five other members of the Kurdish peshmerga forces were killed and 46 more were wounded in the fighting, a police brigadier general and a doctor said, but the final casualty figure for Kurdish troops was unclear.
Outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in an interview on Friday the United States might eventually need to send non-combat ground troops to Iraq to help turn back Islamic State forces.
Hagel, who announced his resignation under pressure in November, told CNN all options must be considered in Iraq, including sending troops for non-combat roles such as gathering intelligence and locating Islamic State targets.
“I think it may require a forward deployment of some of our troops …,” he said. “I would say we’re not there yet. Whether we get there or not, I don’t know.”
Hagel’s comments echoed testimony by General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to Congress last fall when he said U.S. troops might have to take a larger role on the ground in Iraq.
Such a deployment would be in addition to the 4,500 U.S. troops already committed to training and advising roles in Iraq.
Hagel also said he had conflicts with White House officials on releasing prisoners from the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
As secretary of defense, Hagel authorized which prisoners would be released and when. He told CNN that the White House did not agree with his cautious approach, saying there were disagreements on “the pace of the releases.”
Asked by CNN if he had been pressured, Hagel said, “we’ve had a lot of conversations” with the White House and Congress on the releases.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Kurdish forces repelled a major attack by the Islamic State militant group in Kirkuk province that killed a top officer on Friday, while violence elsewhere left at least 19 people dead.
The IS assault on areas south and west of the northern city of Kirkuk began at around midnight, sparking fighting with medium and heavy weapons in which the militants were ultimately held off.
Kirkuk Governor Najm al Din Karim said Kurdish forces, supported by US-led air strikes, “foiled the Daesh (IS) attacks” which were “carried out towards oil and gas facilities and stations… from three directions leading to the city of Kirkuk. “Damage to Kirkuk oil facilities would pose a serious problem for Iraq, which is counting on crude exports of 300,000 barrels per day from the oil-rich province in its 2015 budget.
Brig Gen Shirko Rauf and five other members of the Kurdish peshmerga forces were killed and 46 more were wounded in the fighting, a police brigadier general and a doctor said, but the final casualty figure for Kurdish troops was unclear.
