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OBAMA, CONGRESS LEADERS CONSIDER MILITARY OPTIONS FOR IRAQ
BY PAT REBER, DPA
US President Barack Obama huddled Wednesday with congressional leaders over the growing crisis in Iraq as the Sunni-led insurgency moved on Iraq's largest oil refinery. US defence officials confirmed that Iraq had asked Washington to mount airstrikes against the jihadist movement, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). "It is in our national security interests to counter ISIL wherever we find them," General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress. He said that until a very chaotic "intelligence picture" can be clarified, it would not be as "easy as looking at an iPhone video of a convoy and then immediately striking it." Dempsey and Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel assured Congress that they were preparing and refining options to be presented to Obama to make a decision. At his meeting with the four top leaders in Congress, Obama reviewed "options for increased security assistance," White House press secretary Jay Carney said. Obama has ruled out only one military option, sending US combat troops back into Iraq, Carney said. The president would need the consent of Congress if he chooses a military option. "Options like airstrikes, as the president said, he's not ruled in or out, but there has to be a reason for those. There has to be an objective," Hagel told Congress. "What does it do to move the effort down the road for a political solution?" Washington is already sending 170 military personnel to Baghdad to reinforce security at its embassy and relocate diplomats to safety, and another 100 personnel to help with airfield management, security and logistics support "if required," Carney said. A splinter al-Qaeda group, ISIL launched its blitz against government forces last week, seizing the northern city of Mosul and a string of towns stretching south toward Baghdad. Insurgents' lightning advances have raised international concerns that Iraq is falling apart, leaving room for the emergence of a militant enclave stretching from Syria across northern Iraq. The sense of urgency prompted Hagel to call ISIL a "huge threat" to US interests and diplomats. US officials were unsparing in their criticism of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, on whom they place much of the blame for the Sunni unrest now fueling ISIL's offensive. They accuse al-Maliki of governing in a sectarian, pro-Shiite fashion and failing to unite the disparate ethnic and religious groups of Iraq. "Governing in a sectarian way or reinforcing a perception that the central government is pursuing sectarian interests is not a recipe for success when it comes to dealing with the common threat posed by ISIL," Carney said. US Vice President Joe Biden spoke with al-Maliki via telephone on Wednesday and said the United States "stands ready" to echance its support to all Iraqis in their fight against ISIL, according to a statement released by the White House. "At the same time, [Biden] emphasized the need for the prime minister - and all Iraqi leaders - to govern in an inclusive manner, promote stability and unity among Iraq's population, and address the legitimate needs of Iraq's diverse communities," the statement added. The US spent 25 billion dollars to train and equip Iraq security forces between 2003-12, when it withdrew its military in the absence of a status of forces agreement with Baghdad. More than 4,000 US soldiers died during the war. Dempsey expressed "bitter disappointment that Iraq's leaders failed to unite for the good of their people." He said that the sectarian governance under al-Maliki was one cause of last week's security collapse, as two Iraqi military divisions and part of the national police organization fled last week in the face of advancing ISIL forces. "They had simply lost faith that the central government in Iraq was dealing with the entire population in a fair, equitable way that provided hope for all of them," Dempsey said. Washington has repeatedly called on al-Maliki to seek a political solution to the crisis and to involve the Sunni minority in the process. During Senate hearings, Senator Dianne Feinstein said that Iraq's ambassador to the US, Lukman Faily, had told her there were an estimated 20,000 insurgents pushing through Iraq. About 10,000 of them were core ISIL militants, she said.
Source : Sapa-dpa /gm
Date : 19 Jun 2014 04:38
BY PAT REBER, DPA
US President Barack Obama huddled Wednesday with congressional leaders over the growing crisis in Iraq as the Sunni-led insurgency moved on Iraq's largest oil refinery. US defence officials confirmed that Iraq had asked Washington to mount airstrikes against the jihadist movement, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). "It is in our national security interests to counter ISIL wherever we find them," General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress. He said that until a very chaotic "intelligence picture" can be clarified, it would not be as "easy as looking at an iPhone video of a convoy and then immediately striking it." Dempsey and Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel assured Congress that they were preparing and refining options to be presented to Obama to make a decision. At his meeting with the four top leaders in Congress, Obama reviewed "options for increased security assistance," White House press secretary Jay Carney said. Obama has ruled out only one military option, sending US combat troops back into Iraq, Carney said. The president would need the consent of Congress if he chooses a military option. "Options like airstrikes, as the president said, he's not ruled in or out, but there has to be a reason for those. There has to be an objective," Hagel told Congress. "What does it do to move the effort down the road for a political solution?" Washington is already sending 170 military personnel to Baghdad to reinforce security at its embassy and relocate diplomats to safety, and another 100 personnel to help with airfield management, security and logistics support "if required," Carney said. A splinter al-Qaeda group, ISIL launched its blitz against government forces last week, seizing the northern city of Mosul and a string of towns stretching south toward Baghdad. Insurgents' lightning advances have raised international concerns that Iraq is falling apart, leaving room for the emergence of a militant enclave stretching from Syria across northern Iraq. The sense of urgency prompted Hagel to call ISIL a "huge threat" to US interests and diplomats. US officials were unsparing in their criticism of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, on whom they place much of the blame for the Sunni unrest now fueling ISIL's offensive. They accuse al-Maliki of governing in a sectarian, pro-Shiite fashion and failing to unite the disparate ethnic and religious groups of Iraq. "Governing in a sectarian way or reinforcing a perception that the central government is pursuing sectarian interests is not a recipe for success when it comes to dealing with the common threat posed by ISIL," Carney said. US Vice President Joe Biden spoke with al-Maliki via telephone on Wednesday and said the United States "stands ready" to echance its support to all Iraqis in their fight against ISIL, according to a statement released by the White House. "At the same time, [Biden] emphasized the need for the prime minister - and all Iraqi leaders - to govern in an inclusive manner, promote stability and unity among Iraq's population, and address the legitimate needs of Iraq's diverse communities," the statement added. The US spent 25 billion dollars to train and equip Iraq security forces between 2003-12, when it withdrew its military in the absence of a status of forces agreement with Baghdad. More than 4,000 US soldiers died during the war. Dempsey expressed "bitter disappointment that Iraq's leaders failed to unite for the good of their people." He said that the sectarian governance under al-Maliki was one cause of last week's security collapse, as two Iraqi military divisions and part of the national police organization fled last week in the face of advancing ISIL forces. "They had simply lost faith that the central government in Iraq was dealing with the entire population in a fair, equitable way that provided hope for all of them," Dempsey said. Washington has repeatedly called on al-Maliki to seek a political solution to the crisis and to involve the Sunni minority in the process. During Senate hearings, Senator Dianne Feinstein said that Iraq's ambassador to the US, Lukman Faily, had told her there were an estimated 20,000 insurgents pushing through Iraq. About 10,000 of them were core ISIL militants, she said.
Source : Sapa-dpa /gm
Date : 19 Jun 2014 04:38
