US moves armed forces into Iraq to defend assets

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WASHINGTON // Nearly 300 armed American forces are being positioned in and around Iraq to help secure US assets as President Barack Obama nears a decision on an array of options for combating fast-moving Islamic insurgents, including airstrikes or a contingent of special forces.

The US and Iran also held an initial discussion on how the longtime foes might cooperate to ease the threat from the Al Qaeda-linked militants that have swept through Iraq. Still, the White House ruled out the possibility that Washington and Tehran might coordinate military operations in Iraq.

Mr Obama met with his national security team on Monday evening to discuss options for stopping the militants known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Officials said the president has made no final decisions on how aggressively the US might get involved in Iraq, though the White House continued to emphasise that any military engagement remained contingent on the government in Baghdad making political reforms.

Still, there were unmistakable signs of Americans returning to Iraq from which the US military fully withdrew more than two years ago. Mr Obama notified Congress that up to 275 troops would be sent to Iraq to provide support and security for US personnel and the American embassy in Baghdad. The soldiers – 170 of which have already arrived in Iraq – were armed for combat, though Mr Obama has insisted he does not intend for US forces to be engaged in direct fighting.

About 100 additional forces are being put on standby, most likely in Kuwait, and could be used for airfield management, security and logistics support, officials said.

Separately, three US officials said the White House was considering sending a contingent of special forces soldiers to Iraq. Their limited mission – which has not yet been approved – would focus on training and advising beleaguered Iraqi troops, many of whom have fled their posts across the nation’s north and west as the Al Qaeda-inspired insurgency has advanced in the worst threat to the country since American troops left in 2011.

Taken together, the developments suggest a willingness by Mr Obama to send Americans into a collapsing security situation in order to quell the brutal fighting in Iraq before it morphs into outright war.

If the US were to deploy an additional team of special forces, the mission almost certainly would be small. One US official said it could be up to 100 special forces soldiers. It also could be authorised only as an advising and training mission – meaning the soldiers would work closely with Iraqi forces that are fighting the insurgency but would not officially be considered combat troops.

The White House would not confirm that special operations forces were under consideration. But spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said that while Mr Obama would not send troops back into combat, “He has asked his national security team to prepare a range of other options that could help support Iraqi security forces.”

It’s not clear how quickly the special forces could arrive in Iraq. It’s also not known whether they would remain in Baghdad or be sent to the nation’s north, where the Sunni Muslim insurgency has captured large swathes of territory surrounding Baghdad, the capital of the Shiite-led government.

The troops would fall under the authority of the US ambassador in Baghdad and would not be authorised to engage in combat, another US official said. Their mission would be “non-operational training” of both regular and counterterrorism units, which the military has in the past interpreted to mean training on military bases, the official said.

However, all US troops are allowed to defend themselves in Iraq if they are under attack.

The three US officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to publicly discuss the plans by name.

Mr Obama made the end of the war in Iraq one of his signature campaign issues, and has touted the US military withdrawal in December 2011 as one of his top foreign policy successes. But he has been caught over the past week between Iraqi officials pleading for help – as well as Republicans blaming him for the loss of a decade’s worth of gains in Iraq – and his anti-war Democratic political base, which is demanding that the US stay out of the fight.

The crisis has sparked a rare alignment of interests between the US and Iran, which wants to preserve Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government. The US and Iran are engaged in sensitive nuclear negotiations and used a round of talks in Vienna, Austria, to hold a separate bilateral discussion on Iraq.

While the Washington and Tehran have similar short-term goals in Iraq, they have different long-term aims. The United States would like to see an inclusive, representative democracy take hold in Iraq, while predominantly Shiite Iran is more focused on protecting Iraq’s Shiite population and bolstering its own position as a regional power against powerful Sunni Arab states in the Gulf.

It’s unclear what type of cooperation the US and Iran could undertake. Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview with Yahoo! News that the US would “not rule out anything that would be constructive” though US officials quickly tamped down speculation that the discussion might include military coordination or consultation.

While the White House continues to review its options, Iran’s military leaders are starting to step into the breach.

The commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, General Ghasem Soleimani, was in Iraq on Monday consulting with the government there on how to stave off insurgents’ gains.

Iraqi security officials said the US government was notified in advance of the visit by Gen Soleimani, whose forces are a secretive branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard that in the past has organised Shiite militias to target US troops in Iraq and, more recently, was involved in helping Syria’s president Bashar Assad in his fight against Sunni rebels.

* Associated Press