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U.S. plan to fight Islamic State depends on new Iraq leadership, Kerry says during visit U.S. plan to fight Islamic State depends on new Iraq leadership, Kerry says during visit
(about 9 hours later)
BAGHDAD — The Obama administration’s emerging plan to turn back the rapid battlefield advances of Islamic State militants depends on new, multiethnic leadership in Iraq after years of sectarian strife and stagnation, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Wednesday. BAGHDAD — Iraq’s new broad-based government will be the “engine” of the Obama administration’s plan to turn back the rapid advances of Islamic State militants, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Wednesday. But lined with familiar faces, the much-vaunted governing coalition faces huge challenges in playing that role.
Kerry made an unannounced visit to the Iraqi capital to congratulate the new Baghdad government that took power peacefully this week amid spreading alarm about the militant network across the Middle East and beyond. The trip came hours ahead of President Obama’s speech laying out the multipronged strategy and pledge of broader U.S. support. Kerry made an unannounced visit to the Iraqi capital just hours ahead of President Obama’s speech laying out the multi-pronged strategy and pledge of expanded U.S. support against the Islamic State. Kerry announced $48 million in new humanitarian aid and promised unspecified additional support for Iraq’s planned national guard forces and its military campaign against the militants.
“This is a fight that the Iraqi people must win, but it’s also a fight the rest of the world must win with them,” Kerry said, as he promised unspecified additional U.S. backing and resources for Iraq’s planned national guard forces and its military campaign against the militants. The United States had tied an increase in military assistance to Iraq to the formation of a new government incorporating the country’s estranged Sunni and Kurdish minorities. On Wednesday, Kerry congratulated Iraqi officials for achieving that — after months of political wrangling.
“A new, inclusive Iraqi government has to be the engine of our global strategy against ISIL,” Kerry said, using an alternative acronym for the militant network that has proclaimed a caliphate on a third of Syrian and Iraqi territory. Analysts, however, say the cabinet’s lineup, which includes a slew of former ministers, represents little break from the past.
“And now that the Iraqi parliament has approved a new cabinet with new leaders and representatives from all Iraqi communities, it’s full speed ahead,” he said. “Much of the praise for this new government is unwarranted and premature,” said Wayne White, a policy expert at the Washington-based Middle East Institute and a former State Department analyst. “Most of its cabinet members are retreads from previous sectarian governments.”
Iraq was Kerry’s first stop on a recruitment tour of Arab and European nations to amass financial, political and military support for a long fight. Already the cracks are showing, with the Kurds announcing that they would join the government only for a three-month trial period. The security portfolios also have been left empty, after Shiite politicians objected to the Sunni candidate for defense minister and Sunnis opposed the Shiite pick for interior minister. Four other posts are yet to be filled.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who formally took power this week after months of political wrangling, told Kerry that the threat from the Islamic State is growing. But Iraqi officials say there is a new air of optimism under the leadership of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who formally took power Monday, and an awareness of the crisis at hand.
“It’s mobilizing an international network,” drawing funding and foreign fighters to its cause, Abadi said after a meeting with Kerry. “The spirit of the government and its mentality is different,” said Salim al-Jubouri, the speaker of parliament, after he met with Kerry. “The personality of the prime minister is different.”
“We are fighting these people,” he said. “They are a challenge to the whole region, to the international community.” He appealed for more and immediate international help. For the United States, it appears to be different enough. The Obama administration is relieved that Abadi edged out longtime leader Nouri al-Maliki, and the new prime minister has pledged to govern with genuine inclusivity, which had been missing under Maliki.
“This cancer is threatening the whole region, and we have the resolution to fight,” he continued. “Now that the Iraqi parliament has approved a new cabinet with new leaders and representatives from all Iraqi communities, it’s full speed ahead,” Kerry said.
Abadi told Kerry that Iraq’s ability to fight the militants is limited because its forces cannot cross the border into Syria. Others must do that job, he said, although he did not specifically call for U.S. airstrikes on Syria. “A new, inclusive Iraqi government has to be the engine of our global strategy against ISIL,” he added, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State, a Sunni militant group that has proclaimed a caliphate on a third of Syrian and Iraqi territory.
A key challenge for the new government will be to enlist Sunnis in the fight against the Islamic State. When the militants swept in and seized the northern city of Mosul in June, many residents welcomed them, deeply dissatisfied with what was seen as a deeply sectarian government in Baghdad.
The new Iraqi national guard, modeled on the Sunni Awakening movement that had battled al-Qaeda alongside U.S. troops, is a cornerstone of Abadi’s mobilization strategy.
Washington is encouraged by Abadi’s plan to loosen the Shiite-led Baghdad government’s hold on security matters, long an irritant in Sunni areas. Some expanded international help for the new government is expected to further his plan to establish a national guard that answers to provincial governors.
But for his strategy to work, Abadi, a Shiite, will have to co-opt Sunni leaders who remain doubtful about his leadership.
In a meeting with Kerry, Abadi warned that the threat from the Islamic State is growing.
The group is “mobilizing an international network,” drawing funding and foreign fighters to its cause, Abadi said after the meeting.
“We are fighting these people,” he said. “They are a challenge to the whole region, to the international community.”
“This cancer is threatening the whole region, and we have the resolution to fight,” he continued, appealing for more and immediate international help.
Abadi told Kerry that Iraq’s ability to fight the militants is limited because its forces cannot cross the border into Syria. Others must do that job, he said, though he did not specifically call for U.S. airstrikes on Syria.
The Obama administration is expected to launch such assaults later but is focused first on stopping the militant march in Iraq.The Obama administration is expected to launch such assaults later but is focused first on stopping the militant march in Iraq.
Syria has said it would consider any U.S. military action inside its borders to be a hostile act. Syria has said that it would consider any U.S. military action inside its borders to be a hostile act.
Meeting later with new Iraqi President Fouad Masoum, Kerry said Obama’s speech and the strategy it will outline are linked to Iraq’s political progress. Iraq was Kerry’s first stop on a recruitment tour of Arab and European nations to amass financial, political and military support for a long fight against the Islamic State. The U.S. plan relies on that broader base of support as a firmer foundation for Iraq to combat the militants.
“There was no way that this strategy could be implemented without the government formation taking place,” Kerry said. Jubouri, a Sunni, said Kerry had asked him to lead efforts to reach out to potential Sunni Arab partners in the Persian Gulf region.
Alluding to the United States’ many years of war and billions of dollars in investment in Iraq, Kerry said those who had made great sacrifices to help Iraq throw off dictatorship would be “gratified” by the new government.
During a meeting with Salim al-Jubouri, the speaker of Iraq’s parliament, Kerry outlined some of Obama’s new strategy, Jubouri said.
“What I understood from him is that the airstrikes are no longer going to be in limited areas; they are going to be in every place that the terrorists exist,” he said. The United States has carried out more than 150 airstrikes in Iraq since its bombing campaign began a month ago, but they have been limited in scope, largely confined to the country’s north.
Jubouri said the United States has also pledged support for Iraq to build a new national guard, a regional security force manned by local recruits. The force is aimed at handing security to the provinces and peeling back Iraq’s reliance on Shiite militias.
Kerry congratulated Abadi warmly and praised his early work to revamp the cabinet and address ways to more equitably share oil revenue across the country, a long-standing U.S. demand that went unmet by Abadi’s predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki.
“We’re very encouraged by the comments you’ve made here today and by your commitment to do this,” Kerry said. “I’m grateful to you, and as I told you the president will lay out tonight a more detailed description of exactly what the United States is prepared to do together with many other countries” to defeat the Islamic State.
Kerry also praised Abadi’s plans to reinvigorate the Iraqi military to better fight the militants. U.S. advisers were shocked and disappointed by the poor performance of Iraqi units as the militants easily took towns and cities across northern Iraq and along the long border with Syria.
The Obama administration is relieved that Abadi edged out Maliki, who never heeded Washington’s warnings that he must share power with Sunnis and Kurds or risk his country’s disintegration. Abadi has pledged to govern with genuine inclusivity, although many international observers and Iraqi Sunni leaders have doubts. Both Abadi and Maliki are members of Iraq’s Shiite Muslim majority.
The United States began its airstrikes against the Islamic State at the request of the Baghdad government. Washington is edging toward a broader assault, as Obama will discuss later Wednesday, but insists that it is not a return to an American war in the Middle East.
The new Iraq government is a cornerstone of the strategy, as U.S. officials say they finally have a partner who can marshal Sunni support and look beyond narrow sectarian interests.
The U.S. plan relies on that broader base of support as a firmer foundation for Iraq to fight the militants, with assistance from a coalition of nations that Kerry will help line up during stops this week in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
Washington has conditioned some military aid and other support on an inclusive government, and Obama is expected to announce additional aid for the new government Wednesday.
Washington is encouraged by Abadi’s plan to loosen the central Shiite-led Baghdad government’s hold on security matters, long an irritant in Sunni areas. Some expanded international help for the new government is expected to further his plan to establish Iraqi national guard forces that answer to provincial governors.
“The visit comes under circumstances in which there are real opportunities,” a senior State Department official said, citing “a real shake-up in the cabinet” and a chance for progress on key issues that have bedeviled Iraqi leaders for eight years.“The visit comes under circumstances in which there are real opportunities,” a senior State Department official said, citing “a real shake-up in the cabinet” and a chance for progress on key issues that have bedeviled Iraqi leaders for eight years.
The official added that the Obama administration is not naive about the challenges for Abadi or the new coalition supporting him. The official added that the Obama administration is not naive about the challenges for Abadi or the coalition supporting him.
“This is going to be extremely, extremely difficult. The problems that are confronting Iraq are incredibly challenging,” the official said.“This is going to be extremely, extremely difficult. The problems that are confronting Iraq are incredibly challenging,” the official said.
Loveday Morris contributed to this report.Loveday Morris contributed to this report.