US assessing whether Iraq forces can hold — general

HONOLULU — A key role of the American troops in Iraq is assessing whether the country’s security forces can hold together and whether its leaders are confident they can do their jobs, a top US military official said Tuesday.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters after a speech that some of the 750 troops in Iraq are specifically there to help determine what the United States might do next to help Iraq fight an insurgency.

Some troops are manning a joint operations centre with Iraqi security forces to give a better picture of how the situation is evolving, while others are visiting Iraqi units to answer some basic questions, Dempsey said.

“Will they hold? What’s their makeup? Are they still a force that represents all Iraqis?” Dempsey said, adding that they are also asking whether Iraq’s leaders are confident they can do their jobs.

“When we have that assessment in hand... we’ll make some decisions about whether there’s other kinds of support that we can provide,” he said.

The other role of the US troop presence in Iraq is providing increased security at the US Embassy and elsewhere in Baghdad, including the Baghdad International Airport.

Iraq has been seeking US aid to help counter a threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a Sunni-led insurgency in Iraq trying to create an Islamic state in the region. Baghdad’s top envoy to the United States said Tuesday that Iraq is turning to other governments like Russia, Iran and Syria for help because it can’t wait for more American military aid.

The US assessment is happening at the same time as Iraq’s political leaders try to form a government, Dempsey said.