The new top U.S. military officer said Tuesday he sees no prospect right now for Russia to expand its airstrike campaign into Iraq, speaking after briefings to update him on the battle against Islamic State militants.
Marine
Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made his
first trip to the war zone since taking the top post on Oct. 1. He told
reporters traveling with him that U.S. officials spoke with Iraqi
leaders and were told no Russian airstrikes had been requested, despite
earlier reports that Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi wanted Russia's help
against Islamic State militants.
Dunford
planned to talk with his commanders to get updates on battles in Beiji
and Ramadi, where Iraqi forces have made some recent gains.
"Being
in the job about two weeks, one of the things I want to do is go over
here, get eyes on, on the ground," Dunford said as his C-17 headed into
Irbil.
Dunford's
flight into Iraq was suddenly delayed when Iraqis on the ground in
Baghdad refused to allow his C-17 aircraft to land in Irbil.
Just
before 9:30 a.m., local time, as Dunford's plane was nearing Baghdad en
route to Irbil, the crew was directed to fly instead to Baghdad.
The
change set off a flurry of activity on the plane, as military staff
quickly yanked phones and cords out of containers to make urgent phone
calls to officials on the ground, to fix the confusion. After about a
half-hour, the aircraft got permission to land in Irbil.
It was unclear what triggered the mix-up, but officials said the plane's flight had been pre-approved by Iraqi leaders.
This
also is Dunford's first overseas trip since he took the chairman's job,
signaling the high priority he and the Pentagon leadership place on
finding the right formula to use local forces backed by coalition
airstrikes to retake territory the Islamic State militants control in
Iraq and Syria.
He met in Irbil with the head of Iraq's Kurdish regional government, President Massoud Barzani.
"I
am new in my job and one of the first things I wanted to do was come
over here and see you," Dunford told Barzani. "As you know, we have a
common enemy," the U.S. general said.
He
then flew to Baghdad, where he met with Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled
al-Obeidi, and is scheduled to meet with al-Abadi. He met with senior
U.S. military leaders.
Dunford's
stop in Iraq comes after three days of meetings with senior military
and government leaders in Israel and Jordan, two key U.S. allies in the
region. In both countries, Dunford heard officials' concerns about the
Islamic State threat and the roiling instability in the region.
Late
last week Iraqi troops backed by Shiite militia fighters drove IS
militants out of the Beiji oil refinery, which has been contested for
months.
Iraq
announced Tuesday that it had driven Islamic State militants out of
Beiji, which is about 155 miles (250 kilometers) north of Baghdad and is
strategically located on the road to Mosul, the country's
second-largest city.
According
to U.S. Lt. Col. Mike Filanowski, an intelligence officer with the
military's joint task force in Baghdad, Iraqi forces - largely the
special operations troops - secured the refinery's perimeter and the
power plant to the north, and were slowly moving toward the center of
the refinery, clearing enemy fighters.
He
said they are encountering explosive devices and sniper fire.
Filanowski estimated that there were still about 200 Islamic State
fighters around the refinery, with more east of the river.
Mosul
and Ramadi, the capitol of Iraq's western province of Anbar, are both
under IS control, and efforts to retake them have been problem-plagued.
Earlier
this month, however, U.S. officials said Iraqi ground forces have
advanced to the outer suburbs of Ramadi and that conditions may be right
to launch an assault to take back the city.
Dunford's
visit comes just a few months after Defense Secretary Ash Carter made a
trip to Irbil, also meeting with Kurdish leaders. And at the time,
Carter told U.S. and coalition forces that the Kurdish troops, known as
the Peshmerga, are "the model of what we are trying to achieve" —
capable and motivated local forces who can battle Islamic State
militants.
The
U.S. has been training and equipping the Kurdish forces, through the
auspices of the Iraqi government. And the Kurds have proven to be better
able to combat IS than the Iraqi Army.
So
far, the U.S. has not provided arms directly to the Kurds, insisting
instead that it work through the country's central government in Baghdad
in order to avoid fomenting more division.
Islamic
State extremists swept across northern Iraq last year, taking over
large sections of the country. Much of the Iraqi Army collapsed, with
troops fleeing or joining the militants.
Source: NY Times
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