U.S. dispatches more troops to northern Iraq as Yazidi crisis grows
BAGHDAD — The crisis over who will be Iraq’s next prime minister faded in Baghdad on Tuesday after Iran joined the United States in embracing the appointment of Haider al Abadi to replace Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki.
But it was quickly replaced by growing concern that the effort to rescue tens of thousands of Yazidi refugees in northern Iraq was failing and would require far more resources than President Barack Obama indicated in a nationally televised speech last week.
The Pentagon dispatched an additional 130 U.S. military personnel to northern Iraq to “develop additional humanitarian assistance options,” the Obama administration announced late Tuesday, It was an indication that the current effort to drop fresh water and meals-ready-to-eat to the refugees, who at one time were thought to number 40,000, might soon grow larger.
It came as Great Britain announced it had sent aircraft, including Chinook helicopters, to the area and was engaged in “urgent planning” with the United States “to get those trapped on the mountainside to safety.”
NY Times:
Maliki’s Bid to Keep Power in Iraq Seems to Collapse
BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s defiant fight to retain power in Iraq appeared to collapse on Tuesday after his former backers in Iran, the military and his own party all signaled that he could no longer expect their support.
He issued a statement saying that the security forces, which he had deployed around the capital on Monday in what some took to be preparations for a coup, should stay out of politics. And the conversation in Baghdad shifted to how he would leave office and on what terms.
The shift came after Mr. Maliki made several last-ditch efforts to shore up support, only to be confronted late Monday night with delegations of officials, all pleading with him to back down for the good of the country.
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