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More troops to Iraq? Six questions Pentagon needs to answer first.

Here are six of the big questions the Pentagon is grappling with, even as calls for more troops to the region continue.

6. Do the Iraqis actually want us there?

Stringer/Reuters
Head of the Popular Mobilization Forces and Shiite paramilitary commander Hadi al-Amiri (C) walks with Shiite fighters at Lake Tharthar, west of Samarra, June 6.

  • By Anna Mulrine Staff writer

​Many of the Iraqi fighters on the ground say that they do not – that it is their fight. Not only would they prefer to do it themselves, they add, but they will also try to kill, in addition to their Islamic State enemies, any Americans they see on the battlefield.

A group of Shiite militiamen, many of whom are supported by Iran, told ABC News on Monday that if the US sends more soldiers, "We will fight ISIS, and we will fight the Americans."

 Other Iraqis who may have been more open to the idea previously now feel like any help the US offers at this point, including US troops, is too little, too late. They would rather, they added, have America's heavy weapons, equipment, and ammunition. 

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Mark Sappenfield
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