The militant Islamic State group has released a video warning the US that fighters await in Iraq if Barack Obama sends troops there.
The video was released after the US military stepped up its campaign against Islamic State (IS) militants with a series of airstrikes across Iraq and Syria.
The 52-second film, entitled “Flames of War”, shows militants blowing up tanks, wounded US soldiers and others about to be killed. It then shows a clip of the US president saying that combat troops will not return to Iraq, ending with a text overlay that reads “fighting has just begun”.
It comes after General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee that if current Iraq strategy does not prevail he could recommend the use of ground troops. His comments appear to put him at odds with Mr Obama's promise last week that the escalation of the fight against the radical fighters would not involve US troops in combat.
Mr Obama has said repeatedly he has no intention of sending ground troops into battle directly with IS. “We will not get dragged into another ground war in Iraq,” he said in a televised speech last week, deploying a further 475 troops into Iraq to support local fighters battling IS.
Mr Obama’s press secretary Josh Earnest said Gen Dempsey was referring to a “hypothetical scenario” in which there might be a future situation where he might make a tactical recommendation to use ground troops. It was the military’s responsibility to plan for a wide range of contingencies, he said.
US Central Command said earlier today that military forces using fighter aircraft launched two air strikes north-west of Irbil and hit an armed truck and fighters.
Three other air strikes south-west of Baghdad hit anti-aircraft artillery, a truck and two boats on the Euphrates River that were resupplying the militants.
The strikes are part of the new broader military mission in Iraq authorised by Mr Obama that began on Monday.
A White House spokesman said the president would not send ground forces into combat, but Gen Dempsey said Mr Obama had personally told him to come back on a "case-by-case basis" if the military situation changed.
“To be clear, if we reach the point where I believe our advisers should accompany Iraqi troops on attacks against specific ISIL targets, I will recommend that to the president,” Gen Dempsey told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The four-star general said if Mr Obama’s current approach is not enough to prevail, he might “go back to the president and make a recommendation that may include the use of ground forces”.
The House of Representatives is due to vote today on whether to grant Mr Obama powers to train and equip Syrian opposition rebels as part of US strategy to “degrade and ultimately destroy” IS.
Press Association