WASHINGTON, June 20 — When the last batch of U.S. soldiers left Iraq in 2011, President Barack Obama might have never thought of sending them back.
But at a White House press conference on Thursday, Obama announced his decision to dispatch up to 300 military advisers to the embattled country, where he said the United States is “prepared to take targeted and precise military action” if necessary.
The decision came as insurgents spearheaded by militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were scoring sweeping victories across the country, overrunning several major cities in northern and western parts of Iraq, Xinhua news agency reports.
The lightning gains by the insurgents have sparked concerns that the sectarian clashes could descend into civil war and even spread to other countries in the Middle East.
POSSIBLE MILITARY ACTION
The 300 military advisers, made up of special forces, will be focused on assessing how to best train, advise and support Iraqi security forces, rather than being directly involved in the fight, according to Obama.
While emphasising that American forces will not be returning to combat in Iraq, the president said he was “prepared to take targeted and precise military action, if and when we determine that the situation on the ground requires it.”
In another effort to boost support to Iraqi forces, the U.S. is prepared to create joint operation centres in Baghdad and northern Iraq to share intelligence and coordinate planning to confront the threat, Obama said.
Washington has in recent days positioned additional military assets in the region. It is reported that manned and unmanned U.S. aircraft are now flying over Iraq 24 hours a day to collect intelligence.
POLITICAL SOLUTION
Even as Obama left the door open for possible military action, he said there was “no military solution inside of Iraq,” and called for peaceful political ways to solve the crisis, saying the “best and most effective response…will ultimately involve partnerships where local forces, like Iraqis, take the lead.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has long been criticised by the U.S. for not giving the country’s Sunni minority a greater role in the Shiite-dominated government, which some think has contributed to the unrest.
Leading U.S. lawmakers have called for Maliki’s resign, a call that Obama did not join during the conference, saying, “it’s not our job to choose Iraq’s leaders.”
But the president did emphasise that “only leaders that can govern with an inclusive agenda are going to be able to truly bring the Iraqi people together and help them through this crisis.”
“The United States will not pursue military options that support one sect inside of Iraq at the expense of another,” he said.
The president also said he was sending Secretary of State John Kerry to Europe and the Middle East this weekend for talks which he hoped would stabilise the region.
As for the role Iran might play in the Iraq crisis, Obama warned that if Iran was coming in solely as an armed force on behalf of the Shi’ites, it would probably worsen the situation.
“Our view is that Iran can play a constructive role if it is helping to send the same message to the Iraqi government that we’re sending,” he said.
That message is that Iraq will only hold together if it becomes an “inclusive” nation where the interests of Sunnis, Shi’ites and Kurds are all respected.
WAR SCAR
Despite Obama’s rationale that U.S. involvement in Iraq was to safeguard the national security interest of America, going back to war is certainly the last thing both Obama and the U.S. public want.
The brutal eight years of war cost tens of thousands of lives, including at least 100,000 civilians. Nearly a quarter of Iraqi youths are unemployed, giving terrorist groups more opportunity to expand their power.
For the U.S., the Iraq war proved to be far longer and costlier than imagined. Almost 4,500 U.S. soldiers lost their lives, and it cost nearly US$1 trillion.
To stop a possible new war, an anti-war coalition in Los Angeles on Thursday announced plans to stage a nationwide anti-war rally over the upcoming weekend.
“The present civil conflict in Iraq is a result of the U.S. war and occupation, which destroyed the Iraqi government and divided the country along sectarian lines in order to conquer it,” said Brian Becker, national coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition.
“Now is the time for a massive grassroots opposition to stop an escalating U.S. war in Iraq,” he said.
–BERNAMA
