CHAIRMAN JOINT CHIEFS DESCRIBES WHY IRAQ IS IMPORTANT TO U.S.

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Chairman Describes U.S. Interests in Iraq

By Jim Garamone

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, July 3, 2014 – The United States has sent troops back to Iraq because it is in America’s interest for the country to remain stable and to counter Sunni militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey told a Pentagon news conference that Iraq’s leaders must form an inclusive government that respects the rights of all groups.
Iraq can and should be a U.S. partner in countering terrorism, Dempsey said. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which has captured large sections of the country’s north and west over the past few weeks, is a regional threat, Dempsey said, but could become a transnational and global threat in the future. They have “made some pretty significant and rapid advances.”

Yet “they’re stretched right now,” the chairman said, “stretched to control what they have gained and stretched across their logistics lines of communication.”
There are currently nearly 800 American service members in Iraq, with some protecting the American embassy and other facilities. Other U.S. troops are assessing the situation on the ground and have now opened a second joint operations center in Erbil in northern Iraq after establishing one in Baghdad last month. President Barack Obama ordered up to 300 U.S. special forces to the country last month to provide advice on how best to assist the Iraqi military in their fight against Sunni militants.

Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces have stiffened resistance in face of the militants’ gains.

“I don’t have the assessment teams’ exact language, but some initial insights are that the ISF is stiffening, that they’re capable of defending Baghdad,” Dempsey said.

Iraqi forces would be challenged however, if they went on the offensive against the militants, he added.

Dempsey emphasized the ability of Iraq’s military to defend the country depends on political leaders in Baghdad uniting to form a government of national unity.
In addition, what role the United States will play in Iraq going forward, he said, depends on the conclusions of the U.S. military assessment teams, as well as Iraq’s political progress.

Currently, U.S. advisors in Iraq are not involved in combat operations, Dempsey said, but he did not rule that out.

“If the assessment comes back and reveals that it would be beneficial to this effort and to our national security interests to put the advisors in a different role, I will first consult with the secretary, we will consult with the president,” he said. “We’ll provide that option and we will move ahead.”

Even so, he said U.S. involvement in Iraq does not amount to “mission creep.” Choosing to characterize it instead as “mission match.”

“We will match the resources we apply with the authorities and responsibilities that go with them based on the mission we undertake, and that is to be determined,” the chairman said.

DRONES OVER IRAQ

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Armed, Remotely Piloted Aircraft Patrolling Skies Over Iraq

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2014 – Some of the manned and unmanned aircraft that the United States is flying over Iraq are armed to protect newly arrived American military advisers on the ground, Pentagon press secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said today.

The aircraft are being flown with the Iraqi government’s permission, the admiral said during a regular Pentagon briefing.

“The reason that some of those aircraft are armed is primarily for force protection reasons now that we have introduced into the country some military advisers whose objective will be to operate outside the confines of the embassy."
There are 90 U.S. service members on six teams assessing conditions in and around Baghdad. Another 90 Americans are setting up the joint operations center in Baghdad.

All told, there are around 500 American service members in the country sent by President Barack Obama to help the Iraqi military as it faces advances by Sunni militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant who have overrun much of the country’s northern and western provinces.

The aircraft are flying between 30 and 40 missions a day in and around Baghdad, Kirby said. The information gathered will feed into the team assessments and the information is being shared with Iraqi forces.

The president has made no decisions about the use of kinetic force, Kirby said, “but it would be irresponsible for us not to be planning, preparing and thinking and to be ready in case he should make that decision.”

Obama has however, decided to ask Congress for $500 million for fiscal year 2015 to help train and equip moderate elements of the opposition battling the Assad regime in neighboring Syria, where the civil war is being blamed for sending Sunni extremists across the border and destabilizing Iraq.
“That opposition, mind you, still has to be vetted,” Kirby said.

Defense officials say it’s imperative that such aid does not end up arming extremists. “But that doesn't mean that you stop the effort to try to enable and build the capacity of partners in a very tough part of the world,” Kirby said. “You don’t just turn it off because there’s a risk that … some of it may fall into the wrong hands.”

DOD OFFICIALS SAID TO BE CLOSELY WATCHING EVENTS IN IRAQ

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

U.S. Officials Watching Events in Iraq Closely

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 12, 2014 – As Sunni militants advance on the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, Pentagon officials say they are watching events in the country closely and will continue to help Iraqi security forces build their defensive capacity.
Reports from Iraq say jihadists aligned with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria -- ISIS – have captured Mosul, the country’s second-largest city as well as Tikrit, and are moving south towards Baghdad. Reports from Mosul say thousands of Iraqi soldiers threw down their arms and fled.

“Our focus continues to be on helping Iraq,” Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said on CNN this morning. “We have been doing a lot since the American troops left Iraq. The focus is a continued, sustained effort helping them with the counterterrorism operations.”

In particular, the United States will continue to supply weapons to Iraq and to train Iraqi special operations forces in neighboring Jordan, said Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.

The United States is providing Iraq with about $15 billion in military equipment under the foreign military sales program.

“Recently, we have sent them 300 Hellfire missiles, millions of rounds of small arms, thousands of rounds of tank ammunition. Scan Eagle surveillance platforms are on schedule for delivery later in the year,” Warren said. “We’ve also recently notified Congress of an additional sale of $1 billion, which includes 200 Humvees.”

Under the strategic framework agreement that Iraq signed with the United States, the American military has expanded its training programs, including a second round of counterterrorism training for Iraqi special operators.

These weapons transfers will continue, Warren said. The United States takes security of advanced systems particularly seriously, and any transfer takes the security of these systems under consideration.

DOD officials speaking on background pointed out that many of the photos ISIS is posting of captured U.S. equipment are actually old U.S. photos pulled from the web. One photo shows a “captured” UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. The United States has never supplied a Black Hawk to Iraq, officials said.

In another case, a photo purporting to be a captured surface-to-air missile vehicle was actually taken by a U.S. Air Force staff sergeant in 2003. It shows Russian equipment.

All U.S. combat troops left Iraq in 2011.