Barack Obama sends troops back to

Iraq as Isis insurgency worsens

Paul Lewis in Washington, Spencer Ackerman in ew !ork
and Saeed Kamali Dehghan in London"#uesday $% &une '($)
Obama authorises '%* personnel +equipped ,or combat-
White .ouse considers special ,orces to ad/ise Iraqis
0S and Iran rule out military cooperation
Object 1
#he Obama adminstration has ordered the urgent deployment o, se/eral hundred armed troops
in and around Iraq, a,ter the rampant insurgency in the country ,orced the ,irst talks between
the 0S and Iran o/er a common security interest in more than a decade1
Barack Obama discussed the crisis with national security team on 2onday night a,ter earlier
noti,ying 3ongress that up to '%* troops could be sent to Iraq to pro/ide support and security
,or personnel and the 0S embassy in Baghdad1
While Obama has /owed to keep 0S troops out o, combat in Iraq, he said in his noti,ication to
3ongress that the personnel mo/ing into the region were equipped ,or direct ,ighting1 In
addition, o,,icials told 4euters that the White .ouse was considering sending a contingent o,
special ,orces to train and ad/ise beleaguered Iraqi troops, many o, whom ha/e ,led their posts
in the ,ace o, the insurgency1
#he mo/es were made in ad/ance o, any decision Obama may yet make on attacking the Isis
,ighters currently threatening Iraq1
About $%( 0S personnel ha/e already arri/ed in Baghdad 5 almost as many as those already
there 5 with another $(( nearby outside Iraq to assist, rear admiral &ohn 6irby said in a
statement ,rom the Pentagon late 2onday1 Obama had earlier sent a letter to members o,
3ongress in,orming them o, the decision 5 a signal that the administration does not want to risk
another disaster at an under"guarded embassy akin to the '($' assault on the 0S consulate in
Bengha7i, Libya that remains a ma8or contro/ersy on the right1
0S and Iranian o,,icials held talks o/er the crisis on 2onday1 #he discussions in 9ienna took
place on the sidelines o, separate negotiations about Iran-s nuclear programme, amid
con,licting signals in Washington o/er the e:tent o, any coordination with #ehran o/er the
crisis in Iraq1
&ohn 6erry, the 0S secretary o, state, pointedly declined to rule out military cooperation in an
inter/iew on 2onday, but 0S and Iranian o,,icials later stressed that there was no prospect o,
military coordination, and none was discussed in 9ienna, where talks were described as short
and inconclusi/e1
;We are open to engaging the Iranians,< said a senior State =epartment o,,icial, who
characterised the discussions as brie,1 ;#hese engagements will not include military
coordination or strategic determinations about Iraq-s ,uture o/er the heads o, the Iraqi people,<
the 0S o,,icial said, on condition o, anonymity1
#he Iranians con,irmed that military cooperation was not on the cards1 ;#he disastrous
situation in Iraq was discussed today1 o speci,ic outcome was achie/ed,< a senior Iranian
o,,icial told 4euters1
>ighters ,rom the Islamic State in Iraq and the Le/ant ?Isis@ ha/e rapidly ad/anced through
mostly Sunni areas o, Iraq in recent days, capturing se/eral cities1 It was reported on 2onday
that they had taken #al A,ar, a northern Iraqi city1 On Sunday, the insurgent ,ighters posted
images purporting to show the e:ecution o, hundreds o, Shia ,ighters1
Obama said in his noti,ication to 3ongress that the military personnel being sent to Iraq would
pro/ide support and security ,or the American embassy in Baghdad, but was ;equipped ,or
combat<1
;#his ,orce will remain in Iraq until the security situation becomes such that it is no longer
needed,<he said1
In Iraq on 2onday, the capital, Baghdad, remained outside the grasp o, Isis1 But the mayor o,
#al A,ar, a city o, '((,((( people located 'A( miles north"west o, Baghdad, told the Associated
Press that the insurgent group was in control there1 A resident said militants in pickup trucks
with machine guns and 8ihadi banners were roaming the streets as gun,ire rang out1
>ighting in #al A,ar began on Sunday, with Iraqi go/ernment o,,icials saying Isis ,ighters were
,iring rockets sei7ed ,rom military arms depots in the 2osul area1 #hey said the local garrison
su,,ered hea/y casualties and the main hospital was unable to cope with the wounded1
#here were ,ears that militants would carry out ,urther atrocities in #al A,ar, which is ethnically
mi:ed and made up o, Shias and Sunni #urkomen1
3laims at the weekend that the insurgents had killed $,%(( Iraqi soldiers could not be /eri,ied1
But pictures, on a militant website, appear to show masked Isis ,ighters loading capti/es on to
,latbed trucks be,ore ,orcing them to lie ,acedown in a shallow ditch with their arms tied
behind their backs1 #he ,inal images show the bodies o, the capti/es soaked in blood a,ter
being shot at se/eral locations1
Iraq-s chie, military spokesman, Lt Ben Cassim al"2oussawi, said the photos were genuine
and that he was aware o, cases o, mass murder o, captured Iraqi soldiers in areas held by Isis1
#al A,ar-s capture came hours a,ter ouri al"2aliki, the Iraqi prime minister, /owed to retake
e/ery inch o, territory sei7ed by the militants1
;We will march and liberate e/ery inch they de,aced, ,rom the country-s northernmost point to
the southernmost point,< 2aliki told /olunteers 8oining up to ,ight the insurgents1
#he Isis"led insurgency is the worst threat to Iraq since 0S troops le,t in '($$1 But in an
indication o, how sensiti/e in Washington any cooperation with #ehran would be, o,,icials
mo/ed quickly to clari,y remarks by 6erry, who went ,urther than his administration
colleagues in entertaining military cooperation with Iran against a common ad/ersary1
;We-re open to discussions i, there is something constructi/e that can be contributed by Iran, i,
Iran is prepared to do something that is going to respect the integrity and so/ereignty o, Iraq
and ability o, the go/ernment to re,orm,< 6erry told !ahoo ews1
Pressed by inter/iewer 6atie 3ouric o/er whether that would include military cooperation,
6erry repliedD ;At this moment I think we need to go step by step and see what in ,act might be
a reality1 But I wouldn-t rule out anything that would be constructi/e to pro/iding real
stability1<
Less than three hours later, the Pentagon released a series o, public statements that ,irmly ruled
out military coordination1 ;#here has been no contact, nor are there plans ,or contact, between
Ethe =epartment o, =e,enseF and the Iranian military on the security situation in Iraq,<
lieutenant commander Bill Speaks, a Pentagon spokesman, told the Buardian1
otwithstanding the denials o, military collaboration, the ad/ent o, 8oint diplomatic e,,orts
between Washington and #ehran o/er the chaos in Iraq represents a dramatic turnaround ,or the
two ri/al powers, whose relations, ,ro7en ,or se/eral decades, ha/e only begun to thaw o/er the
past year1
2ilitary e:perts say any 0S air strikes in Iraq would will be impeded by the lack o, intelligence
,rom the the ground1 An Iranian o,,ensi/e, by contrast, would be e:pected to in/ol/e elite
,orces o, ground troops that would engage in direct combat with Isis ,ighters, gaining a detailed
knowledge o, the battle lines1
!et the notion o, a partnership between the longtime ,oes prompted intense resistance in some
quarters o, Washington and #ehran on 2onday1 ;It would be the height o, ,olly to belie/e that
the Iranian regime can be our partner in managing the deteriorating security situation in Iraq,<
senator &ohn 2c3ain said in a statement1
2c3ain-s remarks contrasted with those o, another 4epublican hawk, Lindsey Braham, who on
Sunday e:pressed support ,or cooperating with Iran1 2c3ain and Braham are usually in
lockstep o/er ,oreign policy issues and their dispute re/ealed the di/isions unco/ered by the
prospect o, a collaboration with Iran1
Washington has dispatched some o, its most senior White .ouse and State =epartment o,,icials
to the nuclear talks in Austria, including the top deputy secretary o, state, William Burns1 .e
was scheduled to meet Iran-s ,oreign minister 2ohammad &a/ad Gari, and H0 ,oreign policy
chie, 3atherine Ashton on 2onday1
#heir meeting kicks o,, ,i/e days o, negotiations between Iran and the si: world powers
collecti/ely re,erred to as ;P*I$<1 Be,ore arri/ing in 9ienna, Gari, spoke by telephone with the
British ,oreign secretary, William .ague, about the possible role Iran could play in easing the
con,lict in Iraq1
Iran and the 0S pre/iously collaborated o/er military intelligence in the post JK$$ ,ight against
the #aliban in A,ghanistan $L years ago1 But a 0S o,,ical cautioned against reading too much
into the latest talks1 ;o one should e:pect that all o, a sudden, o/ernight, e/en i, we resol/e
the nuclear agreement, that e/erything will change1 It will not,< the o,,icial said1 ;#he
,undamentals remain e:actly as they are1 0ntil we resol/e the nuclear issue there cannot be any
kind o, ,undamental change in this relationship1<
Additional reporting by 2ark #ran