BAGHDAD - A senior Iraqi official on Friday warned that his country might be forced to turn to Iran for military help if none were forthcoming from the United States, but he insisted he was unaware of any Iranian military units in his country so far.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to make statements to the media, was severely critical of the Obama administration for its handling of the Iraq crisis and for failing, in his view, to better prepare the country’s military for an emergency.
“If you’re in an antique shop there’s a sign, ‘If you broke it, you bought it,’” the official, who is an adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, said. “I am not saying the Americans are responsible for everything, but they did not leave a well-trained army, and they left us without any real air support, and the Obama administration really shares much of the blame.”
U.S. military and intelligence officials have painted a sharply different picture, saying the Iraqi military collapse reflected poor leadership, declining troop morale and broken equipment, subverting a $25 billion effort by the United States to train and equip Iraq’s security forces.
The al-Maliki adviser said the Iraqi government wanted air support and intelligence sharing in particular from the United States. So far, the adviser said, he was not aware of any direct Iranian role in Iraq, nor the presence of any Iranian units on Iraqi territory. “What changes this is if the U.S. does not help, Iran will come in, and this is really dangerous,” he said.
The adviser said the Iraqi government was not to blame alone for the success of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s advance through the north of the country. He blamed Turkey, because it was angry over Iraqi support for the regime of President Bashar Assad of Syria, and the Kurds, who wanted to profit from Iraqi weakness in the north, which on Thursday helped them to take Kirkuk, an oil rich prize long shared between the Arabs and the Kurds in an uneasy truce.
“So yes there are cases where the Iraqi army disappeared but you have to take the locality in context,” the adviser said. “The 2nd Division of the Iraqi Army is 80 percent Kurds and 20 percent locals, the Kurds withdrew to the Kurdish areas and this started a panic.”
Obama weighing options
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said Friday he is weighing a range of options for countering the violent Islamic insurgency in Iraq, but he warned government leaders in Baghdad the U.S. will not take military action unless they move to address deep political troubles.
“We’re not going to allow ourselves to be dragged back into a situation in which, while we’re there we’re keeping a lid on things, and after enormous sacrifices by us, after we’re not there, people start acting in ways that are not conducive to the long-term stability and prosperity of the country,” Obama said from the South Lawn of the White House.
The president did not specify what options he was considering, but he ruled out sending American troops back into combat in Iraq.
The last U.S. troops withdrew in 2011 after more than eight years of war.
Obama argued that the insurgency is not only a danger to the Iraqi people but also to American interests in a volatile region.
Administration officials said Obama is considering airstrikes using drones or manned aircraft. Other short-term options include an increase in surveillance and intelligence gathering, including satellite coverage and other monitoring efforts. The U.S. also is likely to increase various forms of aid to Iraq, including funding, training and providing both lethal and non-lethal equipment.
