President Barack Obama speaks about the situation in Iraq, Thursday, June 19, 2014, in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington. Obama said the US will send up to 300 military advisers to Iraq, set up joint operation centers. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama said the United States is sending up to 300 military advisers to help Iraqi forces stem violent sectarian fighting and is prepared to take targeted military actions if they would help fight the growing threat from extremist militants.
Obama said Thursday US forces will not be returning to combat in Iraq but will help train Iraqis. The president said the US has increased its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations in Iraq to better understand the threats to Baghdad.
Obama, who offered an update to US operations in Iraq after meeting with his national security team, said the United States is forming joint operations centers in Baghdad and northern Iraq.
Obama and his national security team met to discuss how strongly to press Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to undertake reforms and make his government more inclusive. Top US officials believe that giving more credence to Sunni concerns about al-Maliki may offer the best opportunity to stave off another deadly round of sectarian fighting of the kind that engulfed Iraq less than a decade ago.
US officials said there was concern within the administration that pushing al-Maliki too hard might stiffen his resolve to stay in office and drive him closer to Iran, which is seeking to keep the Shiite leader in power.
The Obama administration wants to see evidence of a leadership transition plan being put in place in Iraq.
All of the officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the internal deliberations by name.
Vice President Joe Biden spoke with the Iraqi leader Wednesday and emphasized a need for him to govern in an inclusive manner. Biden also spoke to Iraq’s Sunni parliamentary speaker and the president of Iraq’s self-ruled northern Kurdish region.
Al-Maliki, who has long faced criticism for not making his government more inclusive, went on a diplomatic offensive Wednesday, reaching out in a televised address to try to regain support from the nation’s disaffected Sunnis and Kurds. His conciliatory words, coupled with a vow to teach the militants a “lesson,” came as almost all of Iraq’s main communities have been drawn into violence not seen since the dark days of sectarian killings nearly a decade ago.–Lara Jakes with Matthew Lee, Lolita C. Baldor and Donna Cassata
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