Iraqi lawmakers oppose US ground forces

The Iraqi parliament’s Security and Defense Committee rejected in a statement late Wednesday sending U.S. ground forces to Iraq.

“It is necessary to prevent any U.S. ground forces from being in Iraq as their presence creates a lot of problems,” Qasem al-Araji, a member of the committee said. “We strongly believe that the U.S. do not target the Daesh organization effectively.”

The committee also said that 200 U.S. soldiers have arrived at Ain al-Assad airbase in Anbar province.

In a press conference held earlier on Wednesday in the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Brett McGurk, special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter Daesh, said the international coalition is considering sending American ground forces to support Iraqi security forces.