Ending sectarian rule key to war on ISIL: US commander

The commander of the US war against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)  said Thursday the key to winning the fight will be ending Baghdad's sectarian rule, not how many American troops are on the ground.
      
General Lloyd Austin, who runs the air war against the ISIL as head of Central Command, said he would be prepared to recommend more US troops if he concluded it was necessary, but stressed the Iraqi government's treatment of Sunnis would be the decisive factor in the outcome of the conflict.
       
"But I'll tell you sir, if the governmental piece of this doesn't work, if the Iraqi leadership cannot find themselves to be inclusive of the Sunnis and the Kurds, no matter how many troops you put on the ground, this is not going to work," Austin said at an event organized by the Atlantic Council think tank.
      
But Austin said he was hopeful a new government under Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi would reach out to the disaffected Sunni community, and that the situation in Iraq would be "different" this time than it was for American forces occupying the country from 2003 to 2011.
      
"I think this is different. I think it's different because number one there is a different government in place and I think the Iraqis should have learned from the lessons of the past," Austin said.
      
"I think the initial indications that I'm seeing from Prime Minister Abadi and from the minister of defense are very positive."       

The four-star general said the ISIL was able to sweep through Iraq partly by taking advantage of the Sunni population's alienation from Baghdad's Shiite-dominated government.
      
"Absent resistance from the Sunnis who viewed ISIL as a vehicle for bringing about change in...