Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Thursday rejected complaints by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi that the U.S.-led coalition has dragged its feet on meeting commitments to help Iraqi and Kurdish forces defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
“I don’t agree with those comments,” Hagel said. “I would say even further, I don’t think they’re helpful.”
In an interview with the Associated Press on Wednesday, al-Abadi said the coalition had stalled on its commitments to arm and train Iraqi forces so they can launch a major offensive against the Islamist extremist group.
“We are in this almost on our own,” he said. “There is a lot being said and spoken, but very little on the ground.”
But Hagel noted that Iraq has been the focus of U.S. efforts against the Islamic State all along, and that Washington has expedited requests from Baghdad for weapons and advisers to rebuild the U.S.-trained Iraqi army, which nearly collapsed last year as the extremists surged across half the country.
“The prime minister might want to be a little more mindful of that,” Hagel said.
