Exclusive: Washington Wants NATO

To Help Retrain The Iraqi Military

With the Islamic State pulling ever closer to Baghdad, the Obama administration
believes rebuilding the shattered Iraqi military could require up to 1,000 foreign
trainers from the United States and its top uropean allies!
B" #O$%& '%()%*+O,(OB' 1-, .01/
(he di0cult and dangerous tas1 of retraining Iraqi security
forces to ta1e on the Islamic State militants 2ho3ve made impressive gains
in the north and 2est of Iraq 2ill require large numbers of trainers from the
United States and )%(O nations, according to a person familiar 2ith 4oint
assessments by the %merican+led coalition and the Iraqi government!
(he e5panded retraining e6ort being proposed by the United States may
require as many as 1,000 foreign trainers from the United States, Britain,
7rance, #ermany, and %ustralia to restore the beleaguered Iraqi security
forces to a battle+ready state led by %merican advisors, said the person 2ho
spo1e on the condition of anonymity because no decisions have been
made! (he United States already has about 1,-00 advisors in the country,
and Western uropean allies have signaled their ability to send hundreds of
trainers each, the person said!
While Britain and 7rance are participating in airstri1es against the Islamic
State and #ermany is supporting 8urdish rebels in Iraq, getting those
countries3 parliaments to approve sending ground troops into a 2ar 9one to
train Iraqi forces is li1ely to be enormously complicated politically given the
2ar fatigue in Washington and other Western capitals!
%longside the signi:cantly e5panded training mission, the U!S!+led coalition
also 2ants to create an Iraqi national guard force of about t2o to three
brigades or as many as 1-,000 troops dra2n from Sunni tribes in %nbar
province! (hose militiamen reporting to provincial governors 2ould be
charged 2ith 1eeping the Islamic State out of the Sunni heartland! *any of
those tribesmen and their leaders participated in a .00; uprising called the
%nbar %2a1ening that helped the United States defeat al <aeda in Iraq,
only to turn on the government of then Iraqi $rime *inister )ouri al+*ali1i,
2ho refused to pay the :ghters or fold them into the standing Iraqi military
after the violence subsided!
(he United States has proposed that the guard units be recruited, trained,
and paid by Iraq3s =efense *inistry, as opposed to ho2 it 2as done during
the .00; uprising, 2hen the United States recruited the tribes and had
Baghdad pay for them, the person familiar 2ith the discussion said! Some
of Iraq3s Sunni %rab neighbors may help defray the cost of retraining Iraqi
troops and the cost of the national guard units, the person said!
(he United States still is in the early stages of assembling an e6ective
coalition to >degrade and ultimately destroy> the Islamic State, as U!S!
$resident Barac1 Obama has describedthe mission! But getting countries to
sign up 2hile questions about the future of Syrian $resident Bashar al+%ssad
remain unans2ered is at the heart of the Obama administration3s
challenge! *any Sunni %rab nations and )%(O countries 2ant to see %ssad
go, 2hile Obama has declined to get the United States involved in 2hat he
sees as an intractable civil 2ar in Syria!
(he one issue on 2hich many countries agree is the need for Iraq3s military
++ gutted as a result of *ali1i removing talented Sunni o0cers and replacing
them 2ith Shiite loyalists ++ must be reconstituted to :ght the Islamic State!
Western o0cials, particularly those in the United States, 2ere stunned by
ho2 rapidly the Iraqi %rmy collapsed in the early stages of the Islamic
State3s assault, ?eeing by the tens of thousands and leaving behind large
quantities of %merican+provided 2eaponry!
(he 1ey question of ho2 the region3s Sunni %rab countries 2ill contribute to
retraining Iraqi security forces is part of the intense discussions bet2een
the White @ouse and the government of ne2 Iraqi $rime *inister @aider al+
%badi! Both sides are trying to stri1e a balance bet2een inviting such
involvement and angering Iran, the Shiite po2er 2hose support is critical to
%badi3s tenure!
(he United States is hoping that many )%(O members 2ill readily consent
to sending their troops to train Iraqi forces, particularly after troubling
revelations that citi9ens from Western urope and %ustralia are both victims
of the Islamic State and participants alongside the militant group! (he
British $arliament in September over2helmingly approved airstri1es against
the Islamic State in Iraq after the militant group posted a "ou(ube video of
the beheading of captured British aid 2or1er =avid @aines! (he group also
has 1illed another British aid 2or1er, %lan @enning! 7rance and #ermany
also have signed up to support rebels :ghting the Islamic State in Iraq!
%rab countries have been reluctant to 2holeheartedly support the U!S!
strategy because it3s still unclear ho2 the Obama administration hopes to
tac1le the Islamic State 2ithout addressing the group3s presence in Syria,
2hich 2ould require the United States to ans2er the question of 2hat
happens to %ssad! Some U!S! o0cials are beginning to see %ssad as a vital,
de facto ally in the :ght against the Islamic State!
In the t2o months since Obama authori9ed the use of force against the
Islamic State, the military e6ort has been con:ned mostly to airstri1es!
(hose airstri1es have barely succeeded in helping Iraqi 8urdish forces
reta1e the strategically vital *osul =am and protect Iraqi 8urdistan, and the
stri1es have failed to prevent the militant group from conquering almost all
of %nbar province and coming close to overrunning the Syrian border to2n
of 8obani! (he militants also dre2 to 2ithin 1- miles of Baghdad3s
international airport, home to hundreds of U!S! troops, before being beaten
bac1 this 2ee1end!
=efense o0cials from the United States and some uropean countries have
said that 2ithout an e6ective ground force to supplement airstri1es ++ /AB
to date ++ the Islamic State3s advance cannot be halted! In September, #en!
*artin =empsey, the chairman of the U!S! Coint ,hiefs of Sta6, said nearly
half the Iraqi military, or ./ out of its -0 brigades, 2ere incapable of
:ghting the Islamic State!
In .01D, Iraq had an active+duty military of .B1,000, 2ith roughly 1ED,/00
in the Iraqi %rmy and the rest in a small naval force, according to the
&ondon+based International Institute for Strategic Studies! (he Interior
*inistry had another -D1,000 troops, mostly composed of local police units,
according to the institute! )o estimates of the current force si9e are
available because many Iraqi units dispersed this year 2hen the Islamic
State began attac1ing from the 2est!
'etired *arine ,orps #en! Cohn %llen, 2ho led the international coalition in
%fghanistan, and Brett *c#ur1, deputy assistant secretary of state for Iraq
and Iran, completed one round of discussions last 2ee1 2ith some of the
%rab nations and plan to visit more countries in the $ersian #ulf region ne5t
2ee1!
*ilitary chiefs of .0 nations that have agreed to contribute to the anti+
Islamic State e6ort met for the :rst time Oct! 1/ at %ndre2s %ir 7orce Base
in *aryland to coordinate their respective roles in the :ght against the
militant group!
>(here are not quic1 :5es involved,> Obama said Oct! 1/ after meeting 2ith
the military leaders! >We3re still at the early stages! %s 2ith any military
e6ort, there 2ill be days of progress and there are going to be periods of
setbac1!>
In see1ing contributions, the United States has listed a broad set of 2ays
countries can support the :ght against the Islamic State, ranging from
participating in military action to something as prosaic as >e5posing ISI&3s
true nature,> using an acronym sometimes used to refer to the militant
group! Using such a 2ide umbrella, the United States no2 counts more than
;0 countries in the coalition!
#etting (ur1ey to turn its military might against the Islamic State has been
the toughest challenge for the United States because %n1ara is trying to
balance con?icting goals ++ seeing Syria3s %ssad gone 2hile not yielding
ground to 8urdish enclaves 2here rebels 2ho have been battling (ur1ey for
decades are no2 facing the 2rath of the Islamic State!
%n1ara3s refusal to come to the aid of 8obani ++ a 8urdish enclave ++ has
in?amed 8urds in (ur1ey, leading to a (ur1ish airstri1e in the southeast of
the country that shattered a t2o+year+long cease+:re bet2een the t2o
sides!
(ur1ey has said it 2on3t go after the Islamic State unless the U!S!+led
coalition contains %ssad by creating a no+?y 9one and a bu6er region along
the Syria+(ur1ey border to shelter refugees!
But the Obama administration has resisted the idea, fearing that such a
move 2ould dra2 the United States deeper into the three+year+long Syrian
civil 2ar that has failed to dislodge %ssad! =empsey, the top U!S! military
o0cial, in .01D told ,ongress that setting up a no+?y 9one may cost as
much as F1 billion a month and put %merican pilots at ris1 of Syrian anti+
aircraft :re!
%fter resisting calls by la2ma1ers and several cabinet members to arm
Syrian rebels, Obama in Cune proposed a F-00 million fund to train and arm
moderate groups opposing %ssad! ,ongress approved the request in
September! Obama3s critics, both at home and abroad, say that his delay in
arming the moderate rebels led to the creation of the Islamic State!
(he di6erences bet2een the United States and (ur1ey ?ared into public
vie2 this 2ee1 2hen top U!S! o0cials, including )ational Security %dvisor
Susan 'ice, said that (ur1ey had agreed to allo2 its bases to be used
against the Islamic State, only to have (ur1ey quic1ly say that no deal had
been reached!
Still, the United States and (ur1ey share the same goals in the :ght against
the Islamic State, the person familiar 2ith discussions said!
While (ur1ey is not loo1ing to militarily dislodge %ssad, it is 1een to set up
an >e5clusion 9one> that 2ill serve a dual purpose ++ stop both %ssad and
the Islamic State from attac1ing 2ithin that region ++ the person said! %s for
Washington3s opposition to setting up such a 9one, the person said, the
United States may have to rethin1 its position >because the very best
strategies constantly adapt> to changes on the ground!
Posted by Thavam