Saudi Arabia is prepared to send ground troops to Syria to fight the Islamic State if asked.
“The kingdom is ready to participate in any ground operations that the coalition against Islamic State may agree to carry out in Syria,” Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri told al-Arabiya TV. Asseri is also the spokesman for the Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen.
The comment came out just as the State Department was briefing reporters, and spokesman John Kirby said he wasn’t able to comment on the U.S. reaction to the news.
“I haven’t seen those comments,” Kirby told reporters. “I’m not at liberty to speak to the sovereign military decisions of another nation.”
When asked if Saudi Arabia’s decision would be a welcome addition to the fight against the Islamic State, Kirby said the U.S. always welcomes additional effort from other nations, but said State hadn’t assessed Saudi Arabia’s move yet.
“In general, we want … members of the coalition against Daesh to look for was to do more and to contribute, so in general, additional capabilities lent to the coalition to go after Daesh is a welcome thing,” he said. “But I haven’t seen this specific proposal. You’ve seen it before me. I would not want to comment specifically on this until we’ve had a chance to look at it and review it.”
