U.S. doesn’t rule out sending ground troops to Iraq: HagelJanuary 31, 2015 - 12:46 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in an interview on Friday, Jan 30, the United States might eventually need to send non-combat ground troops to Iraq to help turn back Islamic State forces, Reuters reported. Hagel, who announced his resignation under pressure in November, said all options must be considered in Iraq, including sending troops for non-combat roles such as gathering intelligence and locating Islamic State targets. "I think it may require a forward deployment of some of our troops ...," he told CNN. "I would say we're not there yet. Whether we get there or not, I don't know." Hagel's comments echoed testimony by General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to Congress last fall when he said U.S. troops might have to take a larger role on the ground in Iraq. Such a deployment would be in addition to the 4,500 U.S. troops already committed to training and advising roles in Iraq. Hagel also said he had conflicts with White House officials on releasing prisoners from the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. As secretary of defense, Hagel authorized which prisoners would be released and when. He told CNN that the White House did not agree with his cautious approach, saying there were disagreements on "the pace of the releases." Asked by CNN if he had been pressured, Hagel said, "we've had a lot of conversations" with the White House and Congress on the releases. Photo: standwithus.com Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |