Iraq’s leader faced mounting criticism yesterday for his Shiite-led government’s failure to do more to woo the Sunni Arab minority, as US President Barack Obama promised military advisers, but no immediate air strikes.
Top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, revered among Iraq’s majority community, warned that time was running out to expel the jihadists, who have spearheaded the offensive that has seen Sunni Arab militants seize a vast swath of northern and north-central Iraq.
Obama, who based an election campaign on ending US involvement in Iraq, insisted that the US was not slipping back into the morass, and told Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his Shiite ally Iran that promoting sectarianism would spell disaster.
Photo: Reuters
Tehran hit back, saying that Obama lacked a “serious will” to fight terrorism after he left unheeded a request from Baghdad for US air strikes against the militants.
The assault, led by the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, but also involving loyalists of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, has further threatened Washington’s already damaged legacy in Iraq.
“Going forward, we will be prepared to take targeted and precise military action if and when we determine that the situation on the ground requires it,” Obama said on Thursday, as he announced the offer of up to 300 military advisers.
The offer was the most concrete action announced by Washington since the crisis erupted on June 9, but fell short of Iraq’s request for air strikes and drew derision from Iran, which had offered its cooperation despite decades of enmity.
“Delaying the fight against terrorism and ISIL and putting conditions on it have fueled suspicions and doubts about the United States’ objectives in Iraq,” Iranian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian said. “Obama’s comments show the White House lacks serious will in fighting terrorism in Iraq and the region.”
Top cleric al-Sistani called for Iraqis to band together against the jihadists before it is too late.
If ISIL is not “fought and expelled from Iraq, everyone will regret it tomorrow, when regret has no meaning,” his spokesman said on his behalf.
The battle for the strategic northern town of Tal Afar entered its sixth day yesterday, with witnesses saying security forces clashed with militants, who still hold significant ground.
Shiite-majority Tal Afar is along a strategic corridor to Syria, and is the largest town not to fall to militants in the northern province of Nineveh, most of which has been overrun.
The crew of an Iraqi gunship apparently mistook a police patrol for militants early yesterday in the town of Dhuluiyah, north of the capital, opening fire and killing a woman, officials and a witness said.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a