Leaders of Iraq's Anbar province call for U.S. ground forces to stop ISIS

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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.

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.

Iraqi army forces and Anbar tribesmen fighting alongside them have threatened to abandon their weapons if the U.S. military does not intervene to help them, he said, because they are faltering before the ISIS onslaught.

The army soldiers are not capable of defending themselves against ISIS because of a lack of training and equipment, he said. Already, some 1,800 tribesmen in the province have been killed or injured in the struggle.
The Iraqi government has been adamant that it does not want U.S. forces on the ground, and President Barack Obama has not shown any intent to deploy any.

The Iraqi government said it has not received any official request from Anbar province for U.S. military intervention and ground forces to help in the fight against ISIS, Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi's media office said Saturday.

"If we receive any request, we will look into it and we will give our recommendation, but thus far we have not

received any request," the office said.
A U.S. defense official said Saturday that Iraq's government hasn't asked for any more American troops beyond those already in Iraq.

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