Obama: An additional $200 million for Iraq

David Jackson | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The United States will provide an additional $200 million to Iraq in humanitarian aid as it battles the Islamic State, President Obama said Tuesday, though his pledge did not include new direct military assistance.

Women and children are being displaced in the battle between Iraqi and Islamic State forces, and the United States has an obligation to help, Obama said after a meeting with Iraq's new prime minister, Haider Al-Abadi.

"This is not just an abstract issue," Obama said. "There are individual families and children who have suffered."

Al-Abadi, making his first White House since becoming prime minister seven months ago, has said he wants increased aid from the U.S.-led military coalition. "We have a common enemy in fighting terrorism, which is threatening Iraq, U.S. lives and the entire world," he said in the Oval Office.

Obama said he and al-Abadi also discussed the role of neighboring Iran in Iraq's affairs, including the battle against the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS. They agreed that any Iranian assistance should be coordinated with the Iraqi government, the president told reporters.

"Any foreign assistance that is helping to defeat ISIL has to go through the Iraqi government," Obama said. "That's how you respect Iraqi sovereignty."

Abadi said it is critical for all anti-IS fighters to be brought under the control of the Iraqi government, an apparent reference to Iran-backed Shiite militias.

Obama also said that Iraqi forces, backed by U.S. airstrikes, continue to reclaim land from the Islamic State. But he said the overall battle is "a long process" and "success will not occur overnight."

He added: "But what is clear is that we will be successful."

The United States and coalition partners have conducted more than 1,900 air strikes in Iraq, said a joint U.S- Iraq statement, and those strikes have played "a critical role in halting ISIL's advance" and "liberating significant Iraqi territory once held by ISIL."

Obama and al-Abadi also discussed how to best organize newly re-claimed areas, return refugees to their homes, and confer authority on local officials and police services, the statement said.

More than 2.6 million Iraqis have been displaced by war since January of 2014, the statement said. The new U.S. pledge brings the total humanitarian aide to more than $407 million since Oct. 1, 2013.

Al-Abadi had told reporters Monday that U.S. airstrikes and its training of Iraqi forces have helped roll back the Islamic State, but "we want to see more." Facing major budget problems, the Iraq leader is also seeking financial assistance from the United States and international organizations.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that, according to his readout of the meeting with Obama, al-Abadi did not make a specific request for new military aid. Earnest said the United States and allies remain committed to helping Iraqi military and security forces in any way they can.

Obama and aides have made clear that the U.S. will not be sending combat troops back to Iraq to fight the Islamic State.

The White House schedule said the two leaders discussed "a range of issues, including continued U.S. support to Iraq to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL."

Other topics, according to the schedule: "The Government of Iraq's actions to address the needs of the Iraqi people and to strengthen cooperation between all communities in Iraq, and advancing a broad U.S.-Iraqi partnership through expanded political, commercial, and cultural relations under the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement."

The U.S. has been conducting airstrikes against Islamic State positions in Iraq and neighboring Syria.

Backed by those strikes, Iraq forces and allied Shiite militias recently recaptured the city of Tikrit — the hometown of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein — from Sunni militants. The majority of Iraq's population is Shiite, while Tikrit and Anbar province are dominated by Sunni Muslims.

Obama, whose administration was critical of al-Abadi predecessor Nouri al-Maliki, praised the new prime minister for working with all of his country's religious sects.

"None of this works unless there is a perception among all the parties involved — Shia, Sunni, Kurd, and others inside of Iraq — that this is an inclusive government that is listening to the voices of all the people and including them in decision-making," Obama said. "And the fact that Prime Minister Abadi is doing that makes our job and the coalition's job of coordination much easier."

While in Washington, the Iraq leader is also seeking financial help his cash-strapped government. He will visit officials with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, as well as members of Congress.