This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/14/world/middleeast/iraq.html
The article has changed 19 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 17 | Version 18 |
|---|---|
| Iraqi Shiite Cleric Issues Call to Arms | Iraqi Shiite Cleric Issues Call to Arms |
| (2 months later) | |
| BAGHDAD — The specter of sectarian war and partition of Iraq grew on Friday as the country’s top Shiite cleric implored his followers to take up arms against an insurgent army of marauding Sunni extremist militants who have captured broad stretches of northern territory this week in a sweep toward Baghdad. | |
| The exhortation by the cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, came as President Obama told the Iraqis they need to resolve the crisis themselves and vowed not to redeploy United States forces in Iraq, a country where nearly 4,500 American soldiers lost their lives and the United States spent more than $1 trillion in an eight-year war that Mr. Obama said was history when the last troops left in 2011. | The exhortation by the cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, came as President Obama told the Iraqis they need to resolve the crisis themselves and vowed not to redeploy United States forces in Iraq, a country where nearly 4,500 American soldiers lost their lives and the United States spent more than $1 trillion in an eight-year war that Mr. Obama said was history when the last troops left in 2011. |
| While Mr. Obama said he would offer some help, it would not include troops, and he asserted that “we’re not going to allow ourselves to be dragged back into a situation in which, while we’re there, we’re keeping a lid on things.” | While Mr. Obama said he would offer some help, it would not include troops, and he asserted that “we’re not going to allow ourselves to be dragged back into a situation in which, while we’re there, we’re keeping a lid on things.” |
| Heeding the call to arms by Ayatollah Sistani, Shiite volunteers rushed to the front lines, reinforcing defenses of the holy city of Samarra 70 miles north of Baghdad, and helping thwart attacks by Sunni fighters of the radical Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in some smaller cities to the east. The confrontations suggested that Shiites and Sunnis would once again engage in open conflict for control of Iraq, as they did during the height of the American-led occupation that ousted Saddam Hussein. | Heeding the call to arms by Ayatollah Sistani, Shiite volunteers rushed to the front lines, reinforcing defenses of the holy city of Samarra 70 miles north of Baghdad, and helping thwart attacks by Sunni fighters of the radical Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in some smaller cities to the east. The confrontations suggested that Shiites and Sunnis would once again engage in open conflict for control of Iraq, as they did during the height of the American-led occupation that ousted Saddam Hussein. |
| That struggle between the sects has also helped shape the civil war in neighboring Syria and threatened to further destabilize the Middle East. | That struggle between the sects has also helped shape the civil war in neighboring Syria and threatened to further destabilize the Middle East. |
| While it was unclear from Mr. Obama’s remarks what he might be prepared to do militarily to help the Maliki government, administration officials said the options included airstrikes by warplanes or drones, improved intelligence sharing and deployment of small numbers of Special Forces members. | While it was unclear from Mr. Obama’s remarks what he might be prepared to do militarily to help the Maliki government, administration officials said the options included airstrikes by warplanes or drones, improved intelligence sharing and deployment of small numbers of Special Forces members. |
| The United States already has considerable military power deployed in the region, with 35,000 troops, in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and neighboring Gulf nations. In addition, the United States has an array of ships there, as well as the aircraft carrier George H. W. Bush with an accompanying Navy cruiser in the northern Arabian Sea. Two Navy destroyers from the Bush strike group have moved into the Persian Gulf, a Defense Department official said. | The United States already has considerable military power deployed in the region, with 35,000 troops, in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and neighboring Gulf nations. In addition, the United States has an array of ships there, as well as the aircraft carrier George H. W. Bush with an accompanying Navy cruiser in the northern Arabian Sea. Two Navy destroyers from the Bush strike group have moved into the Persian Gulf, a Defense Department official said. |
| The sharp deterioration in Iraq represents a significant security issue to both the United States and Iran, adversaries in a range of disputes, including the Syria conflict. Both were seeking ways to help avoid a collapse in the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, a Shiite whose marginalization of Sunnis and other sects has been blamed by some critics for the dysfunction that has steadily worsened in Iraq since the American departure. | The sharp deterioration in Iraq represents a significant security issue to both the United States and Iran, adversaries in a range of disputes, including the Syria conflict. Both were seeking ways to help avoid a collapse in the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, a Shiite whose marginalization of Sunnis and other sects has been blamed by some critics for the dysfunction that has steadily worsened in Iraq since the American departure. |
| For Iran’s Shiite leaders, the Iraq crisis represents a direct Sunni militant threat on their doorstep. The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, Gen. Qassim Suleimani, an architect of military strategy who has helped President Bashar al-Assad of Syria in his war against Sunni radicals, arrived in Baghdad this week and has been reviewing how Iraq’s Shiite militias are prepared to defend Baghdad and other areas. | For Iran’s Shiite leaders, the Iraq crisis represents a direct Sunni militant threat on their doorstep. The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, Gen. Qassim Suleimani, an architect of military strategy who has helped President Bashar al-Assad of Syria in his war against Sunni radicals, arrived in Baghdad this week and has been reviewing how Iraq’s Shiite militias are prepared to defend Baghdad and other areas. |
| “The mobilization of the Shia militias, and Qassim Suleimani’s presence, is a very good indication of how seriously they’re taking this,” Hayder al-Khoei, an associate fellow at the London-based Chatham House research group, said in an interview with Iranwire, a website run by expatriate Iranian journalists. But reports that Iran had sent hundreds of Quds fighters into Iraq were not confirmed. | “The mobilization of the Shia militias, and Qassim Suleimani’s presence, is a very good indication of how seriously they’re taking this,” Hayder al-Khoei, an associate fellow at the London-based Chatham House research group, said in an interview with Iranwire, a website run by expatriate Iranian journalists. But reports that Iran had sent hundreds of Quds fighters into Iraq were not confirmed. |
| Even with their shared interests in a stable Iraq, there was no overt sign of cooperation or communication between the United States and Iran on the crisis. Marie Harf, a State Department spokeswoman, told reporters on Friday that “we are not talking to the Iranians about Iraq.” | Even with their shared interests in a stable Iraq, there was no overt sign of cooperation or communication between the United States and Iran on the crisis. Marie Harf, a State Department spokeswoman, told reporters on Friday that “we are not talking to the Iranians about Iraq.” |
| Thousands of Iraqi Shiites responded to the call by Ayatollah Sistani, 83, a respected figure among Iraq’s rival sects, whose statements carry particular weight among the Shiite majority. The statement, read by his representative during Friday Prayer, said it was “the legal and national responsibility of whoever can hold a weapon to hold it to defend the country, the citizens and the holy sites.” | Thousands of Iraqi Shiites responded to the call by Ayatollah Sistani, 83, a respected figure among Iraq’s rival sects, whose statements carry particular weight among the Shiite majority. The statement, read by his representative during Friday Prayer, said it was “the legal and national responsibility of whoever can hold a weapon to hold it to defend the country, the citizens and the holy sites.” |
| The representative of Ayatollah Sistani, Sheikh Abdul Mehdi al-Karbalaie, spoke in Karbala, a southern city regarded by Shiites as one of Iraq’s holiest. The sheikh said volunteers “must fill the gaps within the security forces.” | The representative of Ayatollah Sistani, Sheikh Abdul Mehdi al-Karbalaie, spoke in Karbala, a southern city regarded by Shiites as one of Iraq’s holiest. The sheikh said volunteers “must fill the gaps within the security forces.” |
| The statement stopped short of calling for a general armed response to the incursion led by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which has emerged as one of the most potent opposition forces in the Syrian civil war and which now controls large areas of both Syria and northern Iraq. | The statement stopped short of calling for a general armed response to the incursion led by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which has emerged as one of the most potent opposition forces in the Syrian civil war and which now controls large areas of both Syria and northern Iraq. |
| The insurgents have pledged to march on Baghdad, but seizing and controlling the sprawling Iraqi capital, with its large population of Shiites, is likely to prove much more difficult than advancing across a Sunni heartland with little sympathy for the central government. The sheikh emphasized that all Iraqis should join the fight, pulling together, so the country does not slide into all-out sectarian warfare. But in a time of mounting frictions and deepening distrust between the sects, it appeared unlikely that many Sunnis would answer the ayatollah’s call. Many Sunnis feel little sympathy either for the government or for the extremists of ISIS. | The insurgents have pledged to march on Baghdad, but seizing and controlling the sprawling Iraqi capital, with its large population of Shiites, is likely to prove much more difficult than advancing across a Sunni heartland with little sympathy for the central government. The sheikh emphasized that all Iraqis should join the fight, pulling together, so the country does not slide into all-out sectarian warfare. But in a time of mounting frictions and deepening distrust between the sects, it appeared unlikely that many Sunnis would answer the ayatollah’s call. Many Sunnis feel little sympathy either for the government or for the extremists of ISIS. |
| Volunteers began to appear at the southern gate to Baghdad, which leads to the predominantly Shiite south of the country, within an hour after Sheikh Abdul broadcast Ayatollah Sistani’s call. | Volunteers began to appear at the southern gate to Baghdad, which leads to the predominantly Shiite south of the country, within an hour after Sheikh Abdul broadcast Ayatollah Sistani’s call. |
| For the first time since the Sunni insurgents routed the government security forces on Tuesday in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, their southward advance appeared to stall. The insurgents fanned out on Friday to the east of the Tigris River, and at least temporarily seized two towns near the Iranian border, Sadiyah and Jalawla. But security officials in Baghdad said government troops, backed by Kurdish forces, counterattacked several hours later and forced the insurgents to withdraw. | For the first time since the Sunni insurgents routed the government security forces on Tuesday in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, their southward advance appeared to stall. The insurgents fanned out on Friday to the east of the Tigris River, and at least temporarily seized two towns near the Iranian border, Sadiyah and Jalawla. But security officials in Baghdad said government troops, backed by Kurdish forces, counterattacked several hours later and forced the insurgents to withdraw. |
| Shiite militia leaders reported they had also collaborated with security forces to take back control of Dhuluiya, a town about 60 miles north of Baghdad — the southernmost point of the Sunni insurgent advance. | Shiite militia leaders reported they had also collaborated with security forces to take back control of Dhuluiya, a town about 60 miles north of Baghdad — the southernmost point of the Sunni insurgent advance. |
| Iraqiya, the state television channel, reported Friday night that a son of Ezzat al-Douri, one of the top leaders of the Hussein era who was never captured by the Americans and is collaborating with the ISIS fighters, was killed in an Iraqi Air Force strike on Tikrit. There was no immediate way to corroborate the report. | Iraqiya, the state television channel, reported Friday night that a son of Ezzat al-Douri, one of the top leaders of the Hussein era who was never captured by the Americans and is collaborating with the ISIS fighters, was killed in an Iraqi Air Force strike on Tikrit. There was no immediate way to corroborate the report. |
| In its language and tone, Ayatollah Sistani’s statement portrayed it as a religious and patriotic act to volunteer either for the Iraqi Army or for a Shiite militia, two forces that are becoming difficult to distinguish. | In its language and tone, Ayatollah Sistani’s statement portrayed it as a religious and patriotic act to volunteer either for the Iraqi Army or for a Shiite militia, two forces that are becoming difficult to distinguish. |
| When the ayatollah’s representative, Sheikh Abdul, said, “Whoever can hold a weapon has to volunteer to join the security forces,” the call was greeted with cheers and shouts of “It will be done!” | When the ayatollah’s representative, Sheikh Abdul, said, “Whoever can hold a weapon has to volunteer to join the security forces,” the call was greeted with cheers and shouts of “It will be done!” |
| People in Ayatollah Sistani’s office said the statement was a response to one issued by the leadership of ISIS threatening to seize not just the predominantly Sunni areas of northern Iraq, but also Baghdad and the cities of Karbala and Najaf, which are sacred to Shiite Muslims. | People in Ayatollah Sistani’s office said the statement was a response to one issued by the leadership of ISIS threatening to seize not just the predominantly Sunni areas of northern Iraq, but also Baghdad and the cities of Karbala and Najaf, which are sacred to Shiite Muslims. |
| “Iraq and the Iraqi people are facing great danger,” Sheikh Abdul said. “The terrorists are not aiming to control just several provinces. They said clearly they are targeting all other provinces, including Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf. So the responsibility to face them and fight them is the responsibility of all, not one sect or one party. The responsibility now is saving Iraq, saving our country, saving the holy places of Iraq.” | “Iraq and the Iraqi people are facing great danger,” Sheikh Abdul said. “The terrorists are not aiming to control just several provinces. They said clearly they are targeting all other provinces, including Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf. So the responsibility to face them and fight them is the responsibility of all, not one sect or one party. The responsibility now is saving Iraq, saving our country, saving the holy places of Iraq.” |