Iraq political dissaray slows Ramadi campaign

Jim Michaels | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Political disarray in Iraq appears to be undermining a critical offensive to retake Ramadi, a key city in Iraq’s Sunni heartland that was seized by Islamic State militants nearly four months ago.

Iraq’s government is relying on a patchwork of militias and government forces, some with competing loyalties, to conduct military operations, making it nearly impossible to achieve a unified effort, analysts and Iraqi officials said.

“The underlying problem is the Iraqis have a sort of smorgasbord approach to military operations,” said James Jeffrey, a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

The political rivalries could also undermine broader efforts to retake other territory from the Islamic State, particularly Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city.

Gen. Lloyd Austin, who heads U.S. Central Command, acknowledged in congressional testimony last week that progress toward political reconciliation in Iraq is required for the fight against the Islamic State to succeed. "Reconciliation is absolutely essential to success in the counter-ISIL campaign," he said, using an acronym for the militant group.

But political reconciliation in Iraq has been slow. Washington praised Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi for reaching out to Sunni groups, even as he must contend with powerful factions fighting for power and influence. Among them are influential Shiite militias, which have played a prominent role in protecting Baghdad and retaking territory lost to the Islamic State last year.

In some cases, Shiite militias are pursuing their own interests rather than cooperate with government-led offensives. The squabbling is slowing military progress, particularly in Ramadi, about 70 miles west of Baghdad.

Maeen Al-Kadhimi, a senior commander with the Badr Brigade, a Shiite militia with ties to Iran, said he disagrees with the government decision to take Ramadi before Fallujah, another Sunni city, halfway between Ramadi and the capital. A number of militias and some Iraqi forces are focusing on Fallujah, drawing combat power away from Ramadi.

“We have our forces ready to break in Fallujah, but we need some heavy equipment like tanks and armored vehicles which are mostly with the army near Ramadi," he complained.

Some government officials and militia leaders are reluctant to risk their own forces in a government-led offensive in Ramadi, Jeffrey said.

The Sunni-Shiite rivalry also is causing divides inside al-Abadi's Shiite-dominated government. Police commandoes, which are fighting the Islamic State, fall under the Interior Ministry, which is closely aligned with Iranian-backed militias. The ministry is “generally speaking, a wholly owned subsidiary of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps,” said Ali Khedery, a former special assistant to five U.S. ambassadors in Iraq.

The Pentagon has acknowledged that Shiite militias have a role to play in military operations, but they have drawn a distinction between Iranian-backed militias and those that agree to operate under Iraqi government control.

The Pentagon has said it will support only militias that agree to come under Iraqi government control.

A U.S.-led coalition combating the militants is supporting the Ramadi offensive with airstrikes. In addition, U.S. troops are training Iraqi and tribal forces.

U.S. officials say Iraqi forces are isolating Ramadi in preparation for a final assault on the city center. The offensive “has not stalled,” Marine Brig. Gen. Kevin Killea, a Central Command official, said Sept. 4. “There is movement along the multiple axes of approach there.”