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In Baghdad, Hagel underscores U.S. role in Iraq’s fight against Islamic State Iraq presses Hagel for greater U.S. military support against Islamic State
(35 minutes later)
BAGHDAD — Despite a sharp increase in U.S. military support for Iraq’s fight against Islamic State militants, additional help is needed to defeat the well-armed group, Iraq’s prime minister told U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Tuesday. BAGHDAD — The Iraqi government appealed to U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday for additional air power and heavy weapons as Iraq struggles to expel the well-armed Islamic State militants who are dug in across a vast area of the country.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi claimed the Islamist group was “on the descent,” weakened by U.S.-led air strikes and Iraqi forces’ efforts to loosen the Islamic State’s grip on the vast areas of Iraq they seized this summer. Hagel, paying an hours-long visit to Iraq as he prepares to step down from his Pentagon position, underscored the significant expansion in U.S. military assistance since the Islamist group captured much of northern Iraq this summer, as well as areas in Syria. But he also delivered the tough-love message of President Obama’s White House: The fight is ultimately Iraqis’ own to win or lose.
“We are very thankful for the support that’s been given to us,” Abadi said in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone as he opened talks with Hagel during his one-day visit. “Our forces are very much advancing on the ground. But they need more air power and more . . . heavy weaponry. We need that.” “As Iraqi leaders and the people of Iraq know, only they can bring lasting peace to their country,” Hagel told reporters after meetings with senior Iraqi officials. “I believe the Iraqi people are resolved to do this.”
Hagel’s visit to Iraq came just hours before the release of a Senate Intelligence Committee report on “enhanced interrogation” techniques of detainees in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. Hagel said he was “encouraged” by the progress that Iraq was making six months after the fall of Mosul, the country’s second-largest city, as Iraqi forces claim some successes in dislodging the militant group from areas such as the Mosul dam or around the Baiji oil refinery.
Hagel said he ordered commanders to be “on high alert everywhere in the world.” Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who U.S. officials are hoping will be able to end the sectarian feuds that provided a foothold for the Islamic State, said the extremist group was now “on the descent” despite its extensive arsenal and its ability to move back and forth between Iraq and Syria.
“We don’t have any specific information or intelligence to show that there is anything out there that would lead us to do anything beyond high alert right now,” he told reporters. “But, yes, we were concerned about the content of that report being declassified.” “We are very thankful for the support that’s been given to us,” Abadi told Hagel at the start of a meeting in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone. Since this summer, Obama has sent 1,650 U.S. troops to Iraq. As part of a plan to retrain portions of the Iraqi army, that force could grow to about 3,000 in the short term.
The United States has significantly increased military assistance to Iraq since this summer, when the Islamic State’s surge out of Syria and across northern Iraq laid bare the weaknesses of Iraq’s own defenses. Abadi stressed the urgency of defeating the Islamic State. “Our forces are very much advancing on the ground. But they need more air power and more . . . heavy weaponry. We need that.”
Hagel’s visit also signals the central role Iraq once again plays in American foreign policy. There are currently about 1,650 U.S. troops in Iraq, and the number is expected to grow. Speaking to reporters later, Hagel declined to say whether the United States would increase the tempo of airstrikes that U.S. warplanes, along with those from allied nations, have been conducting on militant targets in Iraq since August. U.S. military leaders say that U.S.-led airstrikes in Iraq and Syria have stalled the militant group’s expansion in Iraq and damaged its ability to fund operations in both countries.
Hagel, speaking to U.S. service members at Baghdad’s airport, cautioned that this remains Iraq’s fight. President Obama, who ended America’s last war in Iraq when he withdrew troops in 2011, has vowed that U.S. service members will not return to ground combat in Iraq. But U.S. officials have linked the frequency and location of their airstrikes to the movements of Iraqi forces, which have had only limited success in dislodging Islamic State fighters. Iraqi troops, along with Kurdish peshmerga forces and volunteer fighters, have yet to attempt the recapture of some of the most significant areas under Islamic State control, including Mosul. U.S. officials say strikes will be expanded only to match or assist the advances of Iraqi troops.
“We can help, we can train, we can assist, we can advise. And we’re doing that,” he said. “But the inclusiveness of the government, that all their people can join . . . and trust in is going to be essential to their future.” The Obama administration has been working to expedite delivery of military equipment to Iraq, including Hellfire missiles and mine-resistant vehicles. But Iraqi officials have expressed dismay about the pace of the weapons transfers, which must wend their way through the U.S. bureaucracy. The delay possibly means a greater Iraqi military reliance on Iran, a U.S. adversary.
U.S. officials are hoping that Iraq’s military, seeking to recover from the collapse of four army divisions this summer, will eventually be able to push Islamic State fighters from important urban center such as Mosul, Iraq’s largest northern city. As he did in Afghanistan several days ago, Hagel also used the visit to express support for U.S. troops serving in Iraq. The former senator from Nebraska, who became the first U.S. defense secretary to have served as an enlisted soldier, departs the Pentagon as the White House refocuses military policy around renewed operations in the Middle East.
Hagel said he was ‘encouraged’ by Iraqi gains, including dislodging militants from areas such as the Mosul dam or around the Baiji oil refinery, about 130 miles north of Baghdad. Obama has nominated Ashton Carter, a former senior Pentagon official, to replace Hagel. Carter must be confirmed by the Senate.
But the Islamic State remains a powerful force — both within Sunni Arab areas of Iraq and in neighboring Syria. More than three years of fighting between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and opposition forces have provided openings and resources to boost the Islamic State’s strength. Hagel was a critic of then-President George W. Bush’s management of the last war in Iraq and broke with fellow Republicans to oppose his troop surge. Now, Hagel is overseeing a much smaller buildup of U.S. troops there, aimed at countering a group that is attempting to extend its realm across the Middle East.
Hagel’s visit to Iraq is his first and last as defense secretary. The Islamic State remains a powerful force, both within Sunni Arab areas of Iraq and in neighboring Syria, where more than three years of fighting between President Bashar al-Assad and opposition forces have provided the group space and resources to grow strong.
The former Nebraska senator, who became the first U.S. defense secretary to have served as an enlisted soldier, is leaving his post as the White House refocuses military policy around renewed operations in the Middle East. The U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State has garnered support in the West and, unusually, from across the Middle East. The general overseeing U.S. operations against the group said this week that U.S. partners would provide up to 1,500 troops for the effort to retrain and advise Iraqi forces.
Obama has nominated Ashton Carter, a former senior Pentagon official, to succeed Hagel, but Carter still must clear Senate confirmation. The White House has expanded its role in this new Middle East conflict reluctantly, only three years after Obama ended the bloody, costly war that began in Iraq in 2003.
Hagel, a Republican, was a critic of former President’s George W. Bush’s management of the last U.S. war in Iraq, breaking with others in his party to oppose Bush’s troop surge that began in 2007. Hagel assured American troops assembled at the Baghdad airport that the U.S. reprise in Iraq would be different.
Now, Hagel is overseeing a much smaller buildup of American troops there, this time to counter the extremist group that is attempting to extend its realm across the Middle East. “We can help, we can train, we can assist, we can advise. And we’re doing that,” he said. “It is their country. They have to lead. They are the ones that are going to have to be responsible for end results.”
The U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State has already garnered support from U.S. allies in the West and the Middle East. The general overseeing U.S. operations against the group said this week that U.S. partners are expected to provide up to 1,500 soldiers for the effort to retrain and advise Iraqi forces.
The U.S. force in Iraq, meanwhile, may grow to around 3,000 as the Pentagon expands its efforts to retrain Iraq’s military, which U.S. troops built from scratch after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
As part of the U.S. strategy against the Islamic State, the Pentagon is also preparing to launch a new program to train and arm moderate Syrian rebels. That training is set to begin next year in four Middle Eastern countries.