Several Arab Countries Offer to Join Air Campaign on Islamic State
New video allegedly released by the Islamic State claims to show the beheading of 44-year-old British aid worker David Haines. Similar to prior videos, a man believed to be “Jihadi John” can be seen with a hostage before the screen fades to black, censoring any actual beheading. This is the third person allegedly beheaded by the Islamic State.
Following
President Barack Obama's announcement of a plan to take down Islamic
militants, Syria offered to partner with the U.S, but with some
restrictions.
September 14, 2014
The New York Times - Several
Arab countries have offered to carry out airstrikes against militants
from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, senior State Department
officials said Sunday.
The
offer was disclosed by American officials traveling with Secretary of
State John Kerry, who is approaching the end of a weeklong trip that was
intended to mobilize international support for the campaign against
ISIS.
“There
have been offers both to Centcom and to the Iraqis of Arab countries
taking more aggressive kinetic action,” said one of the officials, who
used the acronym for the United States Central Command, which oversees
military operations in the Middle East.
Mr.
Kerry, who is in Paris to attend an international conference the French
are hosting on Monday on providing aid to the new Iraqi government, has
already visited Baghdad; Amman, Jordan; Jidda, Saudi Arabia; Ankara,
Turkey; and Cairo.
During
Mr. Kerry’s stop in Jidda on Thursday, 10 Arab countries joined the
United States in issuing a communiqué that endorsed efforts to confront
and ultimately “destroy” ISIS, including military action to which
nations would contribute “as appropriate.”
American officials said that the
communiqué should be interpreted as meaning that some, but not all, of the 10 Arab countries would play a role in the military effort.
The United States has a broad definition of what it would mean to contribute to the military campaign.
“Providing
arms could be contributing to the military campaign,” said a second
State Department official. “Any sort of training activity would be
contributing to the military campaign.”
Still,
while the United States would clearly have the dominant role in an air
campaign to roll back ISIS’s gains in Iraq, it is clear that other
nations may also participate.
President
François Hollande of France told Iraqi officials that his country would
be willing to carry out airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq, senior Iraqi
officials said.
“We
need aerial support from our allies,” Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of
Iraq said during a joint news conference with Mr. Hollande. “The French
president promised me today that France will participate in this
effort, hitting the positions of the terrorists in Iraq.”
The
State Department officials, who asked not to be identified under the
agency’s protocol for briefing reporters, did not say which Arab nations
had offered to carry out airstrikes, and there are also other ways Arab
nations could participate in an air campaign against ISIS without
dropping bombs, such as flying arms to Baghdad or Erbil in the Kurdistan
region, conducting reconnaissance flights or providing logistical
support and refueling. The officials said the Arab offers were under
discussion.
“The
Iraqis would have to be a major participant in that decision,” said the
first State Department official. “It has to be well structured and
organized.”
Iraqi officials have long experience working with the United States military and
appealed for American airstrikes against ISIS fighters in Iraq months before the Obama administration decided to conduct them.
But the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government has no experience in working with militaries from Sunni states in the Persian Gulf.
Arab
nations have the capability to conduct air operations. Saudi Arabian
planes participated in the American-led coalition that evicted Saddam
Hussein’s Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991.
And
the United Arab Emirates sent F-16s and Mirage fighters to join the
2011 international military intervention in Libya that eventually led to
the ouster of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.
Last
month, the U.A.E. carried out airstrikes against Islamist allied
militias in Libya, operating out of bases in Egypt. The Obama
administration was not consulted in advance of
that operation, American officials have acknowledged.
Iraq
has a small air force and a limited capacity to deliver accurate
airstrikes. The civilian casualties from some Iraqi attacks have been
exploited by ISIS to try to mobilize popular support against the Iraqi
government.
On
Saturday, Mr. Abadi sought to reassure Sunnis that Iraqi forces would
not risk civilian casualties by using artillery or conducting airstrikes
against ISIS targets in heavily populated areas.
“They
have a very new air force,” a third State Department official said,
referring to the Iraqi military. “Their targeting is not nearly as
precise as ours and they have made some real mistakes.”
Regarding
other military support, Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide bases for
training moderate Syrian rebels. American officials say there have been
Related:
- Americans back air strikes on Islamic State, wary of long haul: poll Reuters
- Cameron not ruling out Syria action: official AFP
- U.S. air strikes target insurgents near Iraq's Haditha Dam Reuters
- Iraq's Shi'ite militia, Kurds use U.S. air strikes to further own agendas Reuters
- Iraq PM says he will protect civilians after U.S.-Iraq air strikes against IS Reuters
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