Sharing intelligence complicates USA effort

Iraq has agreed to set up a cell increasing intelligence coordination with Russian Federation, Syria and Iran in the fight against the Islamic State group, a government spokesman said on Sunday. A $500 million program aimed at producing militants capable of taking on the Islamic State produced a very limited number of fighters and the latest reports indicated a group of those fighters turned a quarter of their weapons over to al Qaeda offshoot the al-Nusra Front in exchange for safe passage.

“In terms of getting into what the Russians have or have not already done with the Iraqis, we didn’t get into the detail in this conversation”.

“The Iraqi military has been winning, which is a result of civil efforts, the Iraqi military efforts and the global coalition, which played a decisive role in supporting the Iraqi military“, he said.

Russia, meanwhile, has rankled the west by strengthening its military presence in Syria in recent weeks.

Sectarian discrimination against Sunnis by the Shiite-led government of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is widely seen as one of the driving factors behind the extremist group’s rapid rise to control in Sunni-dominated areas of Iraq, including Mosul, its second-largest city.

A statement issued by the Joint Operations Command said the countries will “help and co-operate in collecting information about the terrorist Daesh group”, using the Arabic acronym for ISIL.

Critics have urged U.S. President Barack Obama to be more decisive in the Middle East, particularly towards the Syrian conflict, and say lack of a clear American policy has given Islamic State opportunities to expand.

To be clear, none of these troops are engaged in ground combat against ISIS.

The comments were made amid a shift in emphasis away from the immediate removal of Assad, with Britain and Germany both suggesting he might remain in place for some time, as part of any transitional agreement. So we stood neutral.

“Absolutely”, Kirby replied, describing Iraq as “staunch and steadfast” and “valued” member.

Other air strikes were spread across the country, according to the statement.

Kirby also said there was no need for two coalitions against ISIS, saying Russian Federation was welcome to contribute but reiterating that there was no place for the Assad regime.