Gen. Martin Dempsey: ISIS Has Sights on Baghdad

Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey said Sunday if there comes a point where advisers should accompany Iraqi troops fighting the Islamic State (ISIS), he would "recommend that to the president," but that point hasn't come yet.

"There will be circumstances when the answer to that question will likely be yes," Dempsey told ABC "This Week" co-host Martha Raddatz. "But I haven't encountered it yet."

He believes that the role will "require a different kind of advising and assisting, because of the complexity of that fight."

Dempsey is meeting this week with his counterparts from 20 nations that are all focused on the fight against ISIS among fears the militants could take over the Syrian town of Kobani, located near the Turkish border, Raddatz reported.

But ISIS has a much larger target in its sights: Baghdad.

"ISIS is blending into parts of the disenfranchised Sunni population," said Dempsey. "So for indirect fire, the answer is yes. Heretofore, we've been successful, mostly the Iraqis have been successful, in keeping them (ISIS) out of range. But I have no doubt there will be days when they use indirect fire into Baghdad."

Dempsey on Sunday recalled a recent battle near Baghdad between ISIS and Iraqi forces that required the U.S. to call in two Apache attack helicopters to keep Iraqi forces from being taken over by ISIS.

"The tool that was immediately available was the Apache," said Dempsey. "This is a case where you're not going to wait until they're climbing over the wall. They were within, you know, 20 or 25 kilometers" of the Baghdad airport.

"Had ISIS overrun the Iraqi unit, "it was a straight shot to the airport. So, we're not going to allow that to happen. We need that airport."

Meanwhile, the Kurds in Kobani have warned that up to 5,000 people could be killed if ISIS takes over the city, but Dempsey said he is not sure there are still 5,000 people there.

"But I have no doubt that ISIL will conduct the same kind of horrific atrocities if they have the opportunity to do so," said Dempsey.

Dempsey also said he believes there is more that the coalition of nations formed to fight ISIS could be doing inside Syria, and anticipates that there will come a time in which a no-fly zone could be set up.

ISIS is also been adapting and making it harder for coalition forces to target the militants' locations, said Dempsey.

"An enemy adapts and they'll be harder to target," he said. "They know how to maneuver and how to use populations and concealment. And so, when we get a target, we'll take it."

ISIS control of Mosul and Fallujah has already resulted in "extraordinarily strict interpretations of Shariah law," said Dempsey, including "crucifixions and beheadings of a nature that the world hasn't seen in hundreds of years."

But ISIS is also being "clever," while providing basic goods and services and reaching out to children to influence the next generation, said Dempsey.

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