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| Nominee for US ambassador to Iraq hopeful about country's security | Nominee for US ambassador to Iraq hopeful about country's security |
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| The outgoing and incoming US ambassadors to Iraq painted a hopeful picture of the security situation in the country on Wednesday, saying that the Baghdad government was summoning a coalition of forces to oppose an aggressive military incursion by the most radical group to have emerged in the Syrian civil war. | The outgoing and incoming US ambassadors to Iraq painted a hopeful picture of the security situation in the country on Wednesday, saying that the Baghdad government was summoning a coalition of forces to oppose an aggressive military incursion by the most radical group to have emerged in the Syrian civil war. |
| Fighters under the banner of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) on Wednesday moved swiftly into the city of Tikrit, just 95 miles north of Baghdad, after seizing Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, a day before. Hundreds of thousands of residents have fled Isis’s advance. | Fighters under the banner of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) on Wednesday moved swiftly into the city of Tikrit, just 95 miles north of Baghdad, after seizing Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, a day before. Hundreds of thousands of residents have fled Isis’s advance. |
| “Although the news from Mosul is very bad, I think one positive aspect from this may be that the groups are indeed coming together to address this challenge,” Stuart E Jones, President Barack Obama’s nominee to be the US ambassador to Iraq, told a Senate committee. “At least we’re seeing signs of that in the last 24 hours.” | “Although the news from Mosul is very bad, I think one positive aspect from this may be that the groups are indeed coming together to address this challenge,” Stuart E Jones, President Barack Obama’s nominee to be the US ambassador to Iraq, told a Senate committee. “At least we’re seeing signs of that in the last 24 hours.” |
| Jones did not describe the details of the purported cooperation. Iraqi security forces were photographed on Tuesday shedding their uniforms and fleeing the Isis assault. Sectarian bloodshed in Iraq has spiked since parliamentary elections in April. | Jones did not describe the details of the purported cooperation. Iraqi security forces were photographed on Tuesday shedding their uniforms and fleeing the Isis assault. Sectarian bloodshed in Iraq has spiked since parliamentary elections in April. |
| Jones’ predecessor, Stephen Beecroft, now nominated as ambassador to Egypt, echoed Jones’ description of new security maneuvers in Baghdad. The two diplomats were testifying at a Senate hearing that is part of the process of confirming them to their new posts. | Jones’ predecessor, Stephen Beecroft, now nominated as ambassador to Egypt, echoed Jones’ description of new security maneuvers in Baghdad. The two diplomats were testifying at a Senate hearing that is part of the process of confirming them to their new posts. |
| “In the past few days,” Beecroft said, “we’ve seen the Kurds and Baghdad start to talk to each other, start to cooperate on the battlefield, and we’ve seen Iraq putting together a conference for Sunnis to reconcile with as many Sunni groups as possible and engage them in the fight.” | “In the past few days,” Beecroft said, “we’ve seen the Kurds and Baghdad start to talk to each other, start to cooperate on the battlefield, and we’ve seen Iraq putting together a conference for Sunnis to reconcile with as many Sunni groups as possible and engage them in the fight.” |
| May was the deadliest month in Iraq since June 2008, with a total of 1,045 Iraqis killed and another 2,397 wounded, according to UN figures. | May was the deadliest month in Iraq since June 2008, with a total of 1,045 Iraqis killed and another 2,397 wounded, according to UN figures. |
| In addition to their push south, Isis fighters kidnapped 80 Turkish citizens in Mosul, the Turkish foreign ministry said Wednesday. The group reportedly released thousands of inmates from local prisons. | In addition to their push south, Isis fighters kidnapped 80 Turkish citizens in Mosul, the Turkish foreign ministry said Wednesday. The group reportedly released thousands of inmates from local prisons. |
| Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri severed ties with Isis in February, criticizing the group for refusing to participate in mediation sessions among Sunni factions fighting in Syria and saying that some of its practices, which have included crucifixion, were needlessly brutal. On Wednesday, Jones called Isil “one of the most dangerous terrorist groups in the world”. | Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri severed ties with Isis in February, criticizing the group for refusing to participate in mediation sessions among Sunni factions fighting in Syria and saying that some of its practices, which have included crucifixion, were needlessly brutal. On Wednesday, Jones called Isil “one of the most dangerous terrorist groups in the world”. |
| Jones, the outgoing ambassador to Jordan, has deep experience in Iraq as a former deputy chief of mission at the American embassy in Baghdad. He was previously the governorate coordinator in Iraq’s Anbar province and the country director for Iraq on the National Security Council. | Jones, the outgoing ambassador to Jordan, has deep experience in Iraq as a former deputy chief of mission at the American embassy in Baghdad. He was previously the governorate coordinator in Iraq’s Anbar province and the country director for Iraq on the National Security Council. |
| Jones expressed optimism on Wednesday that the government of prime minister Nouri al-Maliki would summon the “political will to try to unify the groups” and fight the insurgents. | Jones expressed optimism on Wednesday that the government of prime minister Nouri al-Maliki would summon the “political will to try to unify the groups” and fight the insurgents. |
| “I think what Ambassador Beecroft said was, that I think the escalation of the threat posed by Isil [Isis] is having an impact in Baghdad of drawing the political factions more closely together,” Jones said. “And I think in the last 72 hours we’ve seen a series of meetings where the various political elements are coming together, and drawing up plans, and looking for ways to cooperate for the national security.” | “I think what Ambassador Beecroft said was, that I think the escalation of the threat posed by Isil [Isis] is having an impact in Baghdad of drawing the political factions more closely together,” Jones said. “And I think in the last 72 hours we’ve seen a series of meetings where the various political elements are coming together, and drawing up plans, and looking for ways to cooperate for the national security.” |
| Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Minnesota, asked Jones if he thought government forces could retake Mosul. | Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Minnesota, asked Jones if he thought government forces could retake Mosul. |
| “We certainly hope for that outcome, and we think it’s incumbent on the United States to try to support that outcome,” Jones said. | “We certainly hope for that outcome, and we think it’s incumbent on the United States to try to support that outcome,” Jones said. |
| At a speech to a Washington think-tank, Susan Rice, Obama's national security adviser, said the US was currently working with the Iraqi government to combat jihadist insurgents who have taken huge swaths of Iraqi territory and who now threaten Baghdad. "The United States has been fast to provide necessary support to the people and government of Iraq under our Strategic Framework Agreement, and we're working together to roll back aggression and counter the threat that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant poses to the people of the region," Rice said on Wednesday, without elaboration, to the Center for a New American Security.Over a decade of costly US mentorship of the Iraqi army did not prevent the group, also known as Isis, from overrunning Iraqi military positions in Mosul and Tikrit this week as it raced across the Syrian border. A senior State Department official, Brett McGurk, who shuttled to Baghdad for critical meetings with his Iraqi counterparts, vowed US assistance."We have suffered and bled together, and we will help in time of crisis," he tweeted. | |
| The U.S. has a permanent Strategic Framework Agreement with #Iraq. We have suffered and bled together, and we will help in time of crisis. | |
| Rice also said the US would "ramp up our assistance to the moderate, vetted Syrian opposition, both political and military," Isis' ostensible rivals for control of the Syrian resistance to dictator Bashar Assad. Assad's sponsors, the Iran government, hold significant influence over the Iraqi government that the US also supports. |