Obama Looking at All Options to Confront Iraq Insurgency
Adetokunbo Fakeye with agency report
President Barack Obama said on Thursday that he is looking at all options in helping the Iraqi government face down a growing insurgency.
“I don’t rule anything out,” Obama said when asked whether the United States is considering drone strikes or any other action to stop the insurgency that has captured several large Iraqi cities, forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to flee.
Obama, speaking to reporters at the White House as he met Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, said the United States has an interest in making sure “jihadists do not gain a permanent foothold in Iraq or Syria.”
He said there will be short-term immediate actions that need to be done militarily in Iraq, and that his national security team is looking at all options. He said the United States is prepared to take military action when its national security interests are threatened.
Obama said his national security staff was “working around the clock” on ways to supplement the military and intelligence assistance already being provided.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has asked his parliament to declare a state of emergency that would give him increased powers, but the lawmakers have not done so.
And Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, said he and his government “are not prepared to stand by and tolerate the violence, we will not tolerate the terrorism. As we have said at the United Nations we are ready to combat violence, extremism and terrorism in the region, and the wider world,” he was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Calls for international support
In his comments from the White House, Obama said the militants’ rapid advance in Iraq over the last few days, and the crumbling Iraqi security, emphasized the need for multinational assistance, with “more help [needed] from us and from the international community,” he said.
The president said he plans to propose a “partnership” counterterrorism fund. With congressional approval, the United States would provide funding, pooled with that from other countries, to address problems.
Referring to his recent address at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Obama said the recent deline in Iraq underscores “the need for us to have a more robust regional approach to partnering and training.”
“We’re not going to be able to be everywhere all the time,” he said, adding that the United States should consistently try to partner with countries, including Iraq.
Obama also called upon Iraq to resolve its political conflicts between Sunnis and Shiias, adding the groups must “come together and work diligently. And that is going to require concessions.”
Republicans pan Obama
Also on Thursday, the top congressional Republican accused Obama of taking a “nap” on Iraq, while another lawmaker called for U.S. air strikes to repel Islamist rebels advancing on Baghdad.
House Speaker John Boehner angrily snapped that the Obama administration has seen the pressure on Iraq’s government building for over a year but did little to help authorities there counter the insurgents.
“Now they’ve taken control of Mosul, they’re 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Baghdad,” Boehner told reporters. “And what’s the president doing? Taking a nap.”
Senator John McCain called for “drastic measures” to reverse the insurgency. He said Obama should replace its national security team for its role in developing the current Middle East policies.
“You have been ill-served,” McCain told Obama in a speech from the Senate floor, Reuters reported.
Senate Republican Lindsey Graham joined in criticizing the president, saying Obama should have left residual U.S. support after the 2011 troop withdrawal. “Ten or 15,000 strategically placed U.S. soldiers would have held this together,” Graham said.
Because sending U.S. ground troops currently isn’t an option, he added, “Airpower is the only hope to change the battlefield equation in Iraq.”
According to Reuters, McCain and Graham urged Obama to sit down with his generals and consult with retired personnel who oversaw Iraqi operations, including former CIA chief General David Petraeus, to map out a change of course.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defended Obama, saying the deadline for U.S. troops’ withdrawal from Iraq “was set by the previous administration.”
Speaking at the Council of Foreign Relations, she reminded that Iraq’s prime minister had failed to approve a status of force agreement with Washington that would enable U.S. troops’ continued presence.