WASHINGTON (AP) – Speaker John Boehner on Friday promised Iraq’s prime minister that the House will provide the new government in Baghdad the assistance necessary U.S. to defeat Islamic militants.
In an unusual move, Haider al-Abadi wrote to Boehner earlier this week, promising to protect religious and ethnic groups and describing the reforms he is instituting. The prime minister also vowed that Iraq will lead the fight against the Islamic State group – with U.S. help.
“We face an enemy with conventional military capabilities never before wielded by a terrorist group,” the prime minister wrote. “We therefore need adequate security assistance and military support from the United States to combat ISIL. With the remolding of our military, the same mistakes at the outset of the ISIL offensive will not be repeated.”
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, is an alternative name and acronym for the Islamic State group.
Boehner wrote to al-Abadi that he will work with lawmakers to provide Iraq with what it needs.