Small Wars Journal

Top US General Assesses IS Fight in Iraq

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 12:33pm

Top US General Assesses IS Fight in Iraq

Voice of America

U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Joseph Dunford flew into Iraq Tuesday to get an in-person assessment of the ongoing fight against Islamic State militants.

Dunford told reporters traveling with him on his first visit to Iraq since taking the post October 1 that Iraqi officials have assured him they have not asked Russia to join the group of nations conducting airstrikes there.

Russian forces have been bombing in Syria for the past three weeks in a campaign they say includes a focus on terrorists but has been criticized by the U.S. and others as targeting opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.nford

Several Iraqi officials had signaled they would welcome Russia's presence in Iraq as well, but Dunford said Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi did not make any request for Russian airstrikes.

President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Barzani meets CJCS General Dunford and US Ambassador to Iraq Jones in Erbil

Barzani Meeting

In addition to meeting with U.S. and Iraqi officials, Dunford is holding talks with the head of Iraq's Kurdistan region, President Massoud Barzani.

Kurdish fighters have had some success in pushing Islamic State fighters out of areas in northern Iraq with the backing of airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition that has been operating for more than a year.

Iraq's army and pro-government militias, also aided by the airstrikes, have had less success in other parts of the country. Dunford's visit is likely to include discussion of the situation in Beiji, where Iraqi troops last week regained control of the city's oil refinery.

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