Reuters, Washington :
The United States has yet to agree with Baghdad on crucial details governing the role of a new American special forces unit aimed at hunting Islamic State militants in Iraq, U.S. officials said, underlining the difficulties Washington faces dealing with Iraq’s weakened leader.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced on Tuesday the planned deployment of the small force, whose raids against Islamic State targets would be the first sustained military operations by U.S. forces in Iraq since American combat troops left in 2011.
U.S. officials said it had been discussed and coordinated with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
But Iraq’s ruling alliance and powerful Shi’ite militias have warned against the plan, raising doubts over whether Abadi has the political clout to secure a final agreement.
In comments that may have been intended mostly for public consumption at home, Abadi said hours after Carter’s announcement that any such deployment would require his government’s consent. On Thursday, he said that any deployment of foreign ground troops would be considered an “act of aggression.”
U.S. officials stressed that there will be no unilateral American military operations in Iraq, unlike in neighbouring Syria. But precisely how much say Abadi will have over the unit’s activities, and how much freedom of action the Americans will have, is still undecided. Having Abadi sign off before each raid would be cumbersome, U.S. officials believe, and crimp the new unit’s effectiveness.
The Obama administration plans to send a team to Baghdad in coming weeks to sort out the details with Iraq’s government, officials said.
“With Abadi, a core fundamental principle of ours in this whole thing is that everything we do in Iraq is with full consent and coordination with the Iraqi government,” a senior administration official said. “So we will not be doing anything in Iraq unilaterally.”
The United States has yet to agree with Baghdad on crucial details governing the role of a new American special forces unit aimed at hunting Islamic State militants in Iraq, U.S. officials said, underlining the difficulties Washington faces dealing with Iraq’s weakened leader.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced on Tuesday the planned deployment of the small force, whose raids against Islamic State targets would be the first sustained military operations by U.S. forces in Iraq since American combat troops left in 2011.
U.S. officials said it had been discussed and coordinated with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
But Iraq’s ruling alliance and powerful Shi’ite militias have warned against the plan, raising doubts over whether Abadi has the political clout to secure a final agreement.
In comments that may have been intended mostly for public consumption at home, Abadi said hours after Carter’s announcement that any such deployment would require his government’s consent. On Thursday, he said that any deployment of foreign ground troops would be considered an “act of aggression.”
U.S. officials stressed that there will be no unilateral American military operations in Iraq, unlike in neighbouring Syria. But precisely how much say Abadi will have over the unit’s activities, and how much freedom of action the Americans will have, is still undecided. Having Abadi sign off before each raid would be cumbersome, U.S. officials believe, and crimp the new unit’s effectiveness.
The Obama administration plans to send a team to Baghdad in coming weeks to sort out the details with Iraq’s government, officials said.
“With Abadi, a core fundamental principle of ours in this whole thing is that everything we do in Iraq is with full consent and coordination with the Iraqi government,” a senior administration official said. “So we will not be doing anything in Iraq unilaterally.”