ISIS: Remaining and Expanding

[David Guyatt]

US should launch targeted military strikes on 'terrorist army' Isis, says General David Petraeus

US President Barack Obama signalled military action could be taken if necessary

General David Petraeus Photo: GETTY IMAGES








By Con Coughlin, Defence Editor, and Tom Whitehead

10:00PM BST 19 Jun 2014


America should launch "targeted" military attacks against an emerging "terrorist army" in Iraq if it jeopardises the security of the West, the former head of Coalition forces in the country said.

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph, David Petraeus, one of the most senior figures in the American military over the past decade, said that he would now support limited strikes against the leadership of Isis.

Gen Petraeus's intervention came as Barack Obama, the US President, announced that America was sending 300 special forces advisers to Iraq to help support the fight against Isis. Mr Obama also said that the US was prepared to launch military strikes if future intelligence recommended such action.



However, William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, ruled out any British involvement in military intervention in Iraq which has seen large swathes of the country overrun by the al-Qaeda inspired Isis group in recent days. David Cameron said earlier this week that Isis now represented a direct threat to Britain's national security, with hundreds of British-born jihadis thought to have joined the banned organisation.

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On Thursday, the group overran Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons complex at al-Muthanna in central Iraq sparking heightened international concern.
In today's interview with the Daily Telegraph Gen Petraeus said: "If President Obama and other leaders conclude that the threat posed by Isis is significant then I would support actions to target high value Isis elements.
"If Isis is seen as a terrorist organisation with the potential to engage in terrorist acts beyond the Middle East, then that could warrant the targeting of high value targets."
America has been known to use drones, special forces and precision bombs to take out known terrorists. It is understood that Gen Petraeus' proposal would involve specifically targeting Isis leader Abu Bakr el Baghdadi, a former detainee of the US in Iraq with a US$10 million bounty on his head.
Gen Petraeus said: "We must be careful not to take sides if we offer military support. But the growing threat posed by Isis means that military action will be necessary.
"We must realise that Isis poses a threat not only to Iraq but to the UK and other countries as well.
"Isis poses two challenges, to the stability of Iraq, and also the emerging threat it poses beyond Iraq and Syria."
He added that an "Isis sanctuary" in Iraq and Syria would be a potentially serious development for the West.
Speaking during a visit to London, the retired general said: "It seems to be much more than a terrorist group: it seems to be turning into a terrorist army, one that has acquired vast financial resources from looting banks and other criminal enterprises."
He joined calls for the Iraqi Government to "reach out to the Sunnis and the Kurds" to help resolve the divisions which are tearing the country apart.
In the interview, Gen Petraus also expressed his "disappointment" that, eight years after he masterminded the military surge in Iraq that destroyed al-Qaeda, the country is once more under threat by Islamist militants.
"It is very disappointing. It is a tragic development for a country that was given an enormous opportunity in the wake of the surge."
But he did not think American sacrifices had been in vain.
"I certainly do not think it was in vain," he said. "The surge provided Iraq with an excellent opportunity. However it is undeniably very sad to see the tragic turn of events in Iraq knowing personally how great the sacrifice and the cost was for the US, Britain, Iraq and all the other coalition partners."
He also questioned whether Iraqis would welcome the return of American combat forces to their country.
"I suspect most Iraqis, despite the desperate situation, would not welcome outside assistance."
Speaking in the White House last night, President Obama said he was sending up to 300 military advisers to help train and advise Iraqi forces while intelligence services will be "significantly" increased to build up a better picture of what is happening on the ground.
A joint operation centres with Iraqi forces will also be set up.
But he warned: "We will be prepared to take targeted and precise military action if and when we determine that the situation on the ground requires.
"If we do I will consult closely with Congress and leaders in Iraq and the region."
The American action came as Saudi Arabia warned the US and UK not to "meddle" in the "alarming situation"in Iraq and risk escalating it.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf Al Saud, the Saudi ambassador to the UK, said it would be"madness" and "beyond our comprehension" for the US to launch air strikes.
He said he"despaired" for the innocent families trapped in the conflict but that it was"Iraq's problem" to sort out.
He wrote:"We also absolutely oppose all foreign intervention and interference.
"So the call by the Iraqi foreign minister for President Obama and the US government to launch air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and Al Sham (Isis) rebels is beyond our comprehension.
"An air strike will not just eliminate extremists whom we do not support but will effectively sign the death warrant of many Iraqi citizens, innocent families trapped and terrified by this crisis. "
Prince Mohammed also blamed the Iraqi leadership for creating the divisions between Sunni and Shia that has fuelled the crisis with an "unashamedly sectarian agenda".
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Twitter that Isis was serving the interests of US in the Middle East and signalled his intense distrust of any proposed cooperation with US to resolve the Iraq situation by accusing Washington of sowing the seeds of division between the country's sects.
In the US, senior figures including Senator John McCain and Senate Intelligence Chairman Dianne Feinstein added to the calls for Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki to step down.
But Zuhair al-Nahar, a spokesman for Mr al-Maliki's Dawa party, said the country's leaders felt "abandoned" and likened the crisis to the Nazi occupation of Europe.
Isis has overrun large swathes of Iraq since taking the second city, Mosul, last week, and US State Department officials warned that Isis fighters had seized a chemical weapons facility built by Saddam Hussein which contains a stockpile of old weapons.
The stockpiles were in the Al Muthanna complex but it was unlikely the militants would be able to turn them in to a functional chemical weapons, it was believed.
There was also intense fighting around the country's biggest oil refinery in Baiji, north of Baghdad.
There were mixed reports over the sprawling refinery, which supplies much of the country's domestic fuel, with Government forces insisting they had regained control after an assault by the militants.
Lahoor Talabani, director of counter terrorism for the Kurdistan Regional Government warned that up to 450 Britons were fighting with Isis either in Syria or Iraq.
David Cameron said that Britain's spy agencies were now "focused on to this area" and everything that could be done to stop Britons travelling or return radicalised was being done.
Isis was formally banned as a terrorist organisation in the UK yesterday, meaning membership of it can carry a maximum jail term of 10 years.
It was proscribed along with four other groups connected to the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

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