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Iraq's Military Puts Obama ISIS Strategy in Doubt
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
September 22, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
Speaking to the nation Sept. 10, 52-year-old
President Barack Obama outlined his plan to deal with the biggest threat to U.S.
national security since Osama bin Laden.
Telling the nation he plans to train, arm and use Iraqi forces, Obama
signaled he would not put U.S. boots on the ground but instead would rely on
Iraqi and Kurdish forces to take on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s well-armed and
determined Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS]. While glad that Obama’s finally
doing something about ISIS, conservatives on Capitol Hill, led by Sen. John
McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Lindsey Grahma (R-S.C.), thought Obama’s plan was
too-little-too-late. “We need boots
on the ground to beat ISIS,” said former British Prime Minister Tony Blair,
concerned that the current strategy was not enough. Only one hour from Baghdad, ISIS
inflicted heavy casualties at an Iraqi military base.
Only 50 kilometers [30 miles] from Baghdad, ISIS fighters killed at least
50 Iraqi troops, taking another 70 hostage, showing the obvious incompetence of
the Iraqi military. Trained for years at great expense to the U.S. military,
Iraq beleaguered military looks helpless next to ISIS’s well-trained, more
aggressive forces. Storming the
camp at Saqlawiya, ISIS suicide-bombed their way into the camp, killing 50 and
seizing about 70 Iraqi hostages.
“This failure is not the fault of the soldiers . . . the mistake was that of the
military leadership, they failed,” said an unnamed officer who managed to
escape. With an estimated 1,000
Iraqi troop in Saqiawiya, only 200 managed to escape, anticipating more mass
executions. Iraq’s new Prime
Minister Haider al-Abadi had no answer other that blaming Iraq’s military brass. Al-Abadi finds himself unable to defend Baghdad or surrounding areas.
Rejecting the idea of letting foreign forces battle ISIS on the ground,
al-Abadi shows, like his predecessor Nouri al-Maliki, egregious denial over the
state of the Iraqi military. If
something isn’t done quickly to help Iraqi ground forces, al-Abadi may be
swearing allegiance to Iraq’s new caliph, Abu Bakr-al-Baghadi. Publicly denouncing the idea of
foreign troops on the ground to battle ISIS, al-Abadi acts as clueless as Hamas
when they battled Israel. With much
of Iraq’s military infiltrated by Sunni insurgents loyal to ISIS or other Sunni
rebel groups, al-Abadi hasn’t got a prayers against ISIS without foreign
intervention. All the talk of a more inclusive Iraqi government by Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry
won’t stop outlaw groups like ISIS from toppling Baghdad. Al-Abadi should be begging U.S. and
foreign forces to put competent boots on the ground.
Obama’s strategy must be based not on the wishes of al-Abadi or any other
Iraqi official but on what promises to work against ISIS. Public proclamations by Iraqi leaders about what they want are only PR messages to
various insurgent groups. Former
Prime Minister Tony Blair reads the tea leaves differently than Obama. “We were without ammunition and
without food. Every time we
contacted military commanders, they promised to send helicopters to air drop
reinforcements but nothing happened,” said an unnamed soldier who managed to
escape the base. If ISIS decided to
launch a blitzkrieg on Baghdad, there’s little the Iraqi military or U.S. could
do to stop it. When ISIS sacked
Mosul June 1, it signaled what was on its way.
“We . . . were drinking salty water and eating canned tomato paste,” said
the soldier, showing the complete incompetence of Iraq’s command-and-control.
Losing over 30% of Iraq territory since Jan. 1, Iraq’s military has no
answer for the more organized and better-equipped ISIS forces. Iraq’s military was so heavily
infiltrated by Sunni insurgents that sabotage should come as no surprise. Sending an explosive-laiden Humvee
into camp Saqlawlya, Iraq’s military has no excuse for the lax security. “When it exploded, it caused a lot
of confusion. Islamic State
exploited that and entered the camp.
Now most of the regiment headquarters within the base are under the
control of the Islamic State.
Baghdad has no plan or resources for how to deal with ISIS. Al-Abadi’s rejection of foreign
ground troops to deal with a relentless ISIS advance on Baghdad shows he’s
either collaborating with al-Baghdadi or is too insulated from reality to know
the facts. Obama must stop the
half-measures or face an ISIS takeover of Baghdad.
Before Obama’s strategy backfires, he needs to urgently rethink what must
be done to stop ISIS’s advance toward Baghdad.
Conservatives on Capitol Hill have urged the president to avoid
half-measures when it comes to ISIS.
If Barack’s National Security team believes that ISIS is a threat to U.S.
national security, then he must do whatever’s necessary, including sending in
ground troops. If Iraq isn’t a
threat, then Obama should rethink the strategy.
There’s little sympathy in the Sunni world for Baghdad’s Shiite regime
or, for that matter, al-Assad’s in Damascus.
White House officials must get the Syrian and Iraq polices right before
using the Pentagon. While there’s
less risk with air strikes, its may not accomplish the job of stopping ISIS. If ISIS is really a national
security threat, then Obama should pull out all the stops—including ground
troops—to stop their advance.
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