U.S. FOCUSES MILITARY EFFORTS IN IRAQ SAYS DEFENSE SECRETARY HAGEL

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, brief reporters at the Pentagon, July 3, 2014. DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Hinton   
By Cheryl Pellerin
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, July 3, 2014 – U.S. military efforts in Iraq are focusing on securing the American Embassy and personnel in Baghdad, assessing the situation in the country and advising Iraqi security forces, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said today.

Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey briefed the Pentagon press corps, focusing on the U.S. mission and role in Iraq.
Both are important components of President Barack Obama’s strategy in Iraq, the secretary said, which involves supporting Iraqi forces and helping Iraq's leaders resolve the political crisis that enabled the advance of the armed militant extremist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.

“By reinforcing security at the U.S. embassy [and] its support facilities at Baghdad International Airport, we're helping provide our diplomats time and space to work with Sunni, Kurd and Shia political leaders as they attempt to form a new inclusive national unity government,” Hagel told reporters.

By better understanding conditions on the ground and the capabilities of Iraqi security forces, he added, “we'll be better able to help advise them as they combat ISIL forces inside their own country.”

About 200 U.S. military advisers are on the ground in Iraq, said Hagel, noting that the United States, with Iraqi assistance, has established a joint operations center in Baghdad.

“We have personnel on the ground in Erbil where our second joint operations center has achieved initial operating capability … [and] assessment teams are evaluating the capabilities and cohesiveness of Iraqi forces,” the secretary said.
The six U.S. assessment teams are focusing on questions such as the strength and cohesion of the Iraqi security forces, the strength and locations of ISIL, how deeply embedded they are, how each component fits into the larger sectarian dynamic at play in the country, the process of forming a new government in the country, and other material issues, Hagel added.

“Both the chairman and I are getting some assessments back, early assessments, through [U.S. Central Command Commander Army Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III] who is overseeing all of this,” the secretary said. “We won't have the full complement of all those assessments for a while but that is ongoing.”

The teams in Iraq today have one mission and that is assessments, he added.
“I don't know what the assessments are going to come back and say or what they would recommend. We'll wait to see what that is and what Gen. Austin and Gen. Dempsey then recommend,” the secretary said.

“None of these troops are performing combat missions. None will perform combat missions,” Hagel said.

“The situation in Iraq … is complex and fluid. But there's no exclusively military solution to the threats posed by ISIL,” he added. “Our approach is deliberate and flexible. It is designed to bolster our diplomatic efforts and support the Iraqi people. We will remain prepared to protect our people and our interests in Iraq.”
As most Americans enjoy the Fourth of July holiday weekend, service members around the world, especially in the Middle East, will stay postured and ready for any contingency in that region, the secretary told reporters.

“As we celebrate Independence Day tomorrow, I want to particularly express my gratitude to the men and women and their families who serve our nation at home and abroad, both civilian and in uniform,” Hagel said.

“I thank you all for what you do to keep our country safe every day,” he added.

300 MILITARY ADVISERS HEAD TO IRAQ

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Obama Announces Military Advisers Heading to Iraq

By Nick Simeone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 19, 2014 – President Barack Obama today announced plans to send up to 300 military advisers to Iraq to help the government in Baghdad combat a rapid advance by Sunni-led insurgents who have taken over towns and cities and routed Iraqi troops in the north and west of the country, a situation which the president said threatens to plunge Iraq into civil war.

“American forces will not be returning to combat in Iraq, but we will help Iraqis as they take the fight to terrorists who threaten the Iraqi people in the region and American interests as well,” Obama said during an appearance in the White House press room, saying the U.S. forces will help train, advise and support Iraqi security forces.

The president spoke after another in what have been a series of meetings with his national security team to review options on how to respond to Iraq’s request for military assistance in putting down rapid gains made by insurgents led by Syrian-based fighters known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria or ISIS, whose advance on Baghdad has threatened reprisals from Iraq’s Shiite majority and a return of full blown sectarian conflict.

“We will be prepared to take targeted and precise military action if and when we determine that the situation on the ground requires it,” Obama said.
Yesterday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Army Gen. Martin E. Demspey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress further intelligence would be needed about the situation on the ground along with clear objectives in order for possible airstrikes or other military intervention to be effective.

Obama said joint operation centers in Baghdad and northern Iraq will be stood up to better share intelligence and coordinate planning with the Iraqis as they confront the terrorist threat posed by ISIS. These steps are in addition to surveillance flights the United States is already conducting along with the positioning of increased U.S. military assets in the region.

Obama again called on Iraq’s political leaders including Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to rise above sectarian differences and develop a broad-based political plan for ending a crisis that he said cannot be resolved through military means.

“It’s not the place for the United States to choose Iraq’s leaders,” Obama said. “It is clear, though, that only leaders that can govern with an inclusive agenda are going to be able to truly bring the Iraqi people together and help them through this crisis.”

To that end, Obama said the United States will launch a diplomatic initiative to work with Iraq’s leaders and countries in the region and dispatched Secretary of State John Kerry to Europe and the Middle East for talks with allies and partners.
During an exchange with reporters, Obama said his administration has told Maliki there “has to be an agenda in which Sunni, Shia, and Kurds all feel that they have the opportunity to advance their interest through the political process,” and that “as long as those deep divisions continue or worsen, it’s going to be very hard for an Iraqi central government to direct an Iraqi military to deal with these threats.”
Obama said the rapid collapse of two divisions of the Iraqi military and the threat of sectarian conflict “have reminded us of the deep scars left by America’s war in Iraq” and the sacrifice made by nearly 4,500 Americans, as well as “the need for the United States to ask hard questions before we take action abroad, particularly military action.”

But in announcing his decision to send military advisers to Iraq, the president said it is in the U.S. national security interests not to see “an all-out civil war inside Iraq.”

In addition, a senior U.S official said the terrorist group ISIS -- an outgrowth of Al-Qaeda in Iraq -- if not confronted, would attempt to create a caliphate and expand its influence across a huge swath of territory spanning the Iraq-Syria border, creating a safe haven for extremists groups that could eventually target the United States.