President Obama warned Iran Tuesday that its fighters must respect Iraq’s sovereignty and follow Baghdad’s lead in the battle against Islamic State militants.
Shiite militias supported by Iran have played a major role in fighting the Sunni terrorist group, a development that Mr. Obama said he and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi discussed at length in their Oval Office meeting.
Mr. Obama said Iran and Iraq must have an important relationship as neighbors who share a long border, and he acknowledged that Shiite militias helped to prevent the Islamic State from overtaking Baghdad last year. But he said the new Iraqi government must be respected by all foreign powers.
“Once Prime Minister al-Abadi took power … from that point on, any foreign assistance that is helping to defeat [Islamic State] has to go through the Iraqi government. That’s how you respect Iraqi sovereignty,” Mr. Obama said. “It sends a message that ultimately Iraq is in clear control of its own destiny.”
Mr. al-Abadi said he was eager to bring all of the fighters in Iraq under the state’s control.
The discussion came as the president announced the U.S. will provide an extra $200 million in humanitarian aid to Iraq, an amount that appeared to fall short of Mr. al-Abadi’s reported desire for more aid and, in particular, military equipment. Mr. Obama declined to say whether the U.S. will provide more military aid.
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But the president said the humanitarian aid will help those displaced by the fighting.
“It’s very important for us to remember this is not an abstract issue, there are individual families and children who have suffered as a consequence of [the Islamic State’s] activities,” he said.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Mr. al-Abadi, making his first trip to Washington since taking office in September, made no specific request for aid during the meeting with Mr. Obama.
The president said Iraqi forces are making progress on pushing back the Islamic State and claimed that Iraq, allied militias, and U.S. coalition forces have taken back one-quarter of the territory seized by the group.
“This is a long process … success will not occur overnight,” Mr. Obama said. “But what is clear is that we will be successful.”
Mr. Obama also said providing U.S. aid through Mr. al-Abadi’s government is necessary “so the impression is not that somehow the United States is moving back into Iraq.”
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The Pentagon has asked Congress for $1.6 billion, mainly to train and equip Iraqi and Kurdish forces in the fight against the Islamic State. After withdrawing all U.S. forces from Iraq in 2011, Mr. Obama has authorized the deployment of up to 3,100 U.S. military advisers to help the Iraqis reverse the stunning territorial gains made by the Islamic State in 2014.
The U.S. has also carried out more than 3,000 airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and in Syria since last summer. The top U.S. commander in Iraq said this week that it will take years to ensure Iraq’s security and that the campaign “will definitely be the fight of our lifetime.”
But the security situation remains extremely tenuous in Iraq: On the day Mr. al-Abadi spoke with Mr. Obama, back home a wave of attacks in and around Baghdad on Tuesday killed at least 28 people, The Associated Press reported. Iraqi security forces also scrambled to repel an attack by the Islamic State forces that included suicide armored car bombs on the country’s massive Beiji oil refinery, the country’s largest, in northern Salahuddin province.
Mr. al-Abadi said he has no tolerance for human rights violations committed by pro-government fighters, but acknowledged that some have occurred. He blamed “criminals” and “outliers” for committing those acts and vowed they would be found and brought to justice.
“It’s not an institutional approach, it is individuals,” he said.
Outside the White House, demonstrators called for Mr. Obama and Mr. al-Abadi to take steps to provide safety and security for thousands of Iranian dissidents at Camp Liberty, a refugee camp near Baghdad. The protesters said the dissidents are being attacked by Shiite militia paramilitary groups, and that Baghdad has not taken steps to protect them.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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