Envoy: Iraq Needs U.S. Military Support, but Will Accept Help From Anyone

‘We desperately need United States assistance to turn the tide ... it is difficult for us to decline offers of assistance from any other country who share our perceived danger’

Iraq says it ‘can’t wait’ for US military aid (Gulf News)

Washington: Iraq is increasingly turning to other governments like Iran, Russia and Syria to help beat back a rampant insurgency because it cannot wait for additional American military aid, Baghdad’s top envoy to the US said Tuesday.

Such alliances test the Obama administration’s influence overseas and raise risks for the US as some of its main global opponents consider joining forces.

Iraqi Ambassador Lukman Faily stopped short of describing enduring military relationships with any of the other nations that are offering to help Iraq fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. And he said Baghdad would prefer to work with the US.

But Faily said delays in US aid have forced Iraq to seek help elsewhere. He also called on the US to launch targeted airstrikes as a “crucial” step against the insurgency. So far, the Obama administration has resisted airstrikes in Iraq but has not ruled them out.

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