Iraq continues to engage in an open-ended bloody conflict with al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), attacking AQI targets in Anbar Province while AQI bombs tear through the rest of Iraq. It’s a horrible mess, so naturally the US wants in on it.

State Department official Brett McGurk testified at the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Iraq, declaring AQI “is an army” and that the US needs to give Iraq security support to contend with them.

Loaded with hawks, the Foreign Affairs Committee is needless to say all for intervention, pushing the idea of speeding up arms shipments, condemning Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for being too close to neighboring Iran, and suggesting the US may send “advisers” for the Iraqi military.

Of course, sending military forces to insinuate themselves into Iraq’s new war under any name is just a stepping stone toward a new US intervention in the country, and that any boots on the ground in a combat situation will inevitably become “combat troops” no matter what they’re called.

Iraq has been desperate to buy weapons by the billions from the US for quite some time now, and while those deals are moving forward, Iraq is also looking for a pact with Iran to buy some arms.