US sending 300 military advisors to Iraq, eyeing airstrikes

US President Barack Obama on Thursday said he is prepared to send up to 300 military advisors to Iraq to help the Iraqi military fend off the militant Islamist threat.

But he will only deploy “precise military actions” — an apparent reference to the airstrikes requested by the Iraqi Government — once intelligence on the ground improves and if the situation demands it.

A few teams of about a dozen advisors each are to arrive “very soon” from their bases in the region, a senior administration official said on background.

They are to focus first on helping Iraqi troops secure Baghdad, starting with the perimeter around Baghdad “and making sure that that’s not overrun,” Obama said.

A second joint operation center is to be set up in northern Iraq. The advisors will deploy to Iraqi military headquarters and possibly brigades, a senior administration official said on condition of anonymity.

They will “share intelligence and coordinate planning to confront the terrorist threat of ISIL,” Obama said.

Obama insisted that the presence of advisors would not signal a return to combat in Iraq, and his administration was careful to refer to the military personnel as advisors, not troops.

“We do not have the ability to simply solve this problem by sending in tens of thousands of troops and committing the kinds of blood and treasure that has already been expended in Iraq,” he said.

The US will not send in soldiers to actively call in airstrikes, officials said.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi raised concerns about even a small military mission to Iraq, warning that numbers have “a tendency to grow.” Republican House Speaker John Boehner charged that “the wheels were coming off” of Obama’s anti-terrorism efforts.

Obama warned that the growing prospects of civil war in Iraq pose the danger of a humanitarian crisis, destabilisation “throughout the region” and disruption of important “energy and global energy markets” that the US is committed to protecting.

The prospect of the jihadist Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and other extremist groups gaining a base of operations across Iraq and Syria poses an additional threat to US national security.

The Iraqi Government insisted it was in full control of the country’s largest oil refinery, after repulsing an offensive by Sunni-led insurgents.

“The security forces have tightened control of the Biji refinery and the surrounding area, keeping terrorists at bay,” the Oil Ministry said in a statement. Army spokesman General Qassem Ataa backed up the statement.

The facility, some 200 kilometres north of the capital Baghdad, accounts for almost a third of Iraq’s refining capacity.

But Dubai-based al-Arabiya television reported that ISIL fighters were still present inside the facility. A senior US administration official indicated that a “major battle” was still going on there.

Security officials reported clashes in the area of Baquba, 60 kilometres north-east of Baghdad, between the Iraqi army and Sunni insurgents, including ISIL militants.

An air raid on an ISIL “hide-out” north of Baquba killed 15 members of the militant group, the news service of Alsumaria television reported online.

ISIL — a splinter al-Qaeda group — seized the northern city of Mosul in a blitz last week and then moved on to capture a string of towns stretching south towards Baghdad.

Obama noted the “urgent need for an inclusive political process,” but did not call for the pro-Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to step down as Parliament works to form a new Government.

US officials blame al-Maliki for failing to govern fairly in the interests of minority Sunni and Kurds and various tribes, thus fueling support for ISIL.

“Right now is a moment where the fate of Iraq hangs in the balance,” Obama said. “If you start seeing the various groups inside of Iraq simply go to their respective corners, then it is almost certain that Baghdad and the central Government will not be able to control huge chunks of their own country.” Obama is sending Secretary of State John Kerry to the Middle East and Europe over the weekend to lead a diplomatic effort to support stability in Iraq. While Kerry was not expected to meet with Iranians, Obama said Shiite-governed Iran could play a “constructive role” if it sends the same message about the need for an inclusive Government.

But he warned Iran against tilting toward the Shiite balance, which could worsen the prospects for a balanced Government.

Al-Maliki has called on his Shiite compatriots to volunteer to help beat back the jihadist group. He ordered a monthly income of 500,000 Iraqi dinars (around $447) for each volunteer, in addition to 125,000 dinars in food allowance, state media reported.

“I have volunteered in response to al-Sistani’s call against ISIL,” said Hussein Nasser, a pensioner in Baghdad.

“This is a binding religious duty. I am experienced with weapons and fought in several wars in the past. I am ready to fight against ISIL because Iraq and holy sites are in a great danger.”

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