US general says Iraqi forces can defend Baghdad against ISIL

US Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno has said that the Iraqi army could act independently in deterring threats posed by the ISIL terrorist group against Baghdad.

“I believe the capability is there to defend Baghdad. … But we’ll have to see what plays out over the coming days,” Odierno told reporters at the Association of the United States Army on Monday.

His remarks came after Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey warned earlier that ISIL could be very close to Baghdad to strike it.

“There will be days when they use indirect fire into Baghdad,” Dempsey told ABC News in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

Gen. Dempsey also said the terrorists have become “more savvy” when it comes to using electronic devices.

However, he said that the United States, its allies and “mostly the Iraqis have been very successful in keeping them out of range.”

The US and several of its Arab allies — Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates — have been conducting airstrikes against ISIL inside Syria since September without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate.

The air campaign in Syria is an extension of US airstrikes in Iraq launched since August.

President Barack Obama has insisted that there would be no US boots on the ground in Iraq.

Speaking on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” former defense secretary Leon Panetta said that Obama “has to be open to whatever recommendations are made in order to ensure that we are effective in going after ISIS (or ISIL).”

ISIL made swift advances in much of northern and western Iraq over the summer, after capturing large swaths of northern Syria.