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UP FRONTFriday 11 December 2015
US keeps wraps on new force for Iraq Syria opposition groups set up
ROBERT BURNS troops toSyria as trainers be classified secret. In this framework for proposed talks
AP National Security Writer and advisers. case the Pentagon lifted
WASHINGTON (AP) — The The Pentagon has been that veil to bolster its argu- A. AL-SHIHRI
commando force that spare in its description of ment that the U.S. military ZEINA KARAM
President Barack Obama this new commando force strategy is building momen- Associated Press
is dispatching to Iraq to in Iraq. tum at a time when its crit- RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A powerful Syrian insur-
conduct clandestine raids It has not even said when it ics claim the Islamic State is gent faction pulled out of an opposition conference on
against the Islamic State will deploy. winning. Thursday in protest over the role given to groups it said
group does not fit neatly Offered a chance by the Obama alluded to the new are close to the Syrian government, signaling contin-
into a picture of the U.S. Senate Armed Services commando force when he ued divisions among rival factions ahead of proposed
military strategy for defeat- Committee on Wednesday said in an Oval Office ad- peace negotiations with President Bashar Assad’s gov-
ing the extremist army. to expand on the Penta- dress Sunday that thou- ernment.
Even the name — “special- gon’s cryptic outline of the sands of Iraqi and Syrian Ahrar al-Sham, a Saudi-backed ultraconservative
ized expeditionary target- force’s makeup and mis- ground forces are trying to group that operates mainly in northern Syria, said in a
ing force” — is a bit of a sion, Defense Secretary Ash retake territory from IS and statement that it was withdrawing also because the
riddle. Carter demurred. that U.S. special operations conference failed to “confirm the Muslim identity of our
The main point is that the In fact he said less about it forces are being deployed people.”
force is intended to ratch- than when he announced to “accelerate that of- The group’s withdrawal came at the end of the two-
day conference in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh,
Defense Secretary Ash Carter, accompanied by Joints Chiefs Vice Chairman Gen. Paul Selva, which sought to form a unified opposition front ahead
testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the Senate Armed Service Committee. Carter said of the proposed talks for ending Syria’s nearly five-year
the U.S. is prepared to assist the Iraqi army with more personnel and equipment to help them fight conflict.
Islamic State militants. Two opposition members said participants at the meet-
ing agreed on a framework that would guide the pro-
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) posed talks. They established a “supreme council”
made up of 32 opposition members and representa-
et up pressure on Islamic the move a week ago. He fensive.” He didn’t go into tives of rebel factions that would later pick the 15 peo-
State militants by using said then that the force details, and other officials ple who would negotiate on behalf of the opposition.
a small group of special would be positioned to say the Pentagon has yet A senior member of the Syrian National Coalition, a
operations troops — pos- gather intelligence, con- to fully develop what was Western-backed opposition group, told AP that most
sibly fewer than 100 — to duct raids and free hos- little more than a concept participants agreed on its vision for a civil, democratic
more aggressively use in- tages in Iraq while part- when Carter announced it Syria and a transitional government that would respect
telligence information, in- nered with Iraqi forces. He last week. human rights and the territorial integrity of Syria. Par-
cluding capturing and kill- also said it could conduct Some private analysts are ticipants also agreed on the need to safeguard state
ing the group’s leaders. In unilateral hit-and-run raids skeptical that adding 100 institutions while restructuring the security forces.
theory, this would generate into Syria. more special operations Although Western leaders have recently said Assad
even more and better intel- But Carter told the com- troops in Iraq will make a can stay on as part of a transition for an unspecified
ligence, feeding what the mittee that he preferred to significant difference. time, SNC and other participants at the Riyadh meet-
military calls a “virtuous cy- keep details under wraps. Anthony Cordesman, a ing insisted he cannot be part of a transitional govern-
cle” of intelligence-driven “This is a no-kidding force long-time Middle East de- ment.
air and ground operations. that will be doing impor- fense expert at the Cen- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed the “posi-
It will be combat, but on tant things,” he said, add- ter for Strategic and Inter- tive outcome” of the gathering in Riyadh where an “ex-
a relatively small scale. ing that describing it too national Studies, says the tremely diverse group of Syrians put aside differences in
Obama remains opposed fully would jeopardize its commando force could the interest of building a new Syria.”
to major U.S. ground com- security. be helpful if used as part of “While this important step forward brings us closer to
bat in Iraq or Syria. Several This kind of military force a broader U.S. strategy for starting negotiations between the Syrian parties, we
weeks ago the administra- typically works in the shad- developing effective local recognize the difficult work ahead,” he added.
tion said it would send up ows; the very fact of its ground forces in both Syr- The stakes were high for the Riyadh meeting, during
to 50 special operations existence normally would ia and Iraq. q which the disparate and often competing opposition
factions were held to a tight deadline to agree on the
outlines of a political solution to the crisis and choose
representatives for the talks.
Security was exceptionally tight at the hotel venue in
the Saudi capital Thursday. The entrance was blocked
by armored vehicles and watched by snipers. Security
guards and police kept visitors out of the hotel.
Kerry, in separate statements earlier, told reporters that
he had spoken to Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir
and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to organize
the next Syria meeting, tentatively set for Dec. 18 at
the United Nations headquarters in New York. A peace
plan agreed to last month by world powers meeting in
Vienna set a Jan. 1 deadline for the start of talks be-
tween Assad’s government and opposition groups.
Although there was agreement on a framework for
negotiation, the withdrawal of Ahrar al-Sham, whose
founders are linked to al-Qaida, underscored the diffi-
culties that lie ahead as groups with competing ideolo-
gies try to forge a common vision for the future.
Divisions remain over whether Assad could be part of a
political transition although most participants agree he
should step down at the start of the transitional period,
said Omar Mushaweh, a senior Muslim Brotherhood
member whose party is represented at the meeting.q
