The man who led the U.S. troop surge that preceded Washington‘s exit from Iraq after a costly eight-year war says there should be no going back, even with air strikes, AFP reported.

The comments from General David Petraeus, who commanded U.S. troops in Mosul – Iraq‘s second city which fell to jihadists last week — during a long military and intelligence career, came as the Shiite-led government in Baghdad formally asked for air support.