As the militant ISIS shocked the world by claiming the massacre of as many as 1,700 Iraq’s Shia air force recruits and posting pictures of the mass execution on social media sites, the United States has hinted that it may be open to the idea of talks with its long-term adversary Iran over the rapidly deteriorating conditions in Iraq.
Even as President Barack Obama is still mulling his options on how to deal with the crisis, short of deploying American combat troops, his Secretary of State John Kerry disclosed on Monday that Washington would be “open to discussions” with Tehran if the Iranians could help end the current violence.
Asked about possible military cooperation with Iran, Kerry said in interview to Yahoo News that he “wouldn’t rule out anything that would be constructive to providing real stability, a respect for the (Iraqi) constitution, a respect for the election process, and a respect for the Iraqi people to form a Government that represents all of the interests of Iraq — not one sectarian group over another”.
“let’s see what Iran might or might not be willing to do before we start making any pronouncements,” Kerry said, even while noting: “I think we are open to any constructive process here that could minimise the violence, hold Iraq together, the integrity of the country and eliminate the presence of outside terrorist forces that are ripping it apart.”
In comments that came even as the ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) was expanding its control with the overnight capture of the city of Tal Afar, Kerry said President Obama was giving “a very thorough vettting of every option that is available”, including drone strikes.
While weighting his military options, Obama himself has been quoted by a senior administration official as saying that any US military action must be conditioned on an Iraqi political plan to address the widening sectarian rifts. He has been stressing the need for Iraq’s Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to make compromises and strike a political deal with the Sunnis. The New York Times quoted the administration official as saying that the White House will prod the Iraqi leaders to form a new national unity Government.
The US Congress, however, appears to be deeply divided on the question of a new American military involvement in the Iraq crisis. Influential Republican Senators, notably John McCain and lindsey Graham, are pushing for a robust response, asserting that the ISIS could next be plotting a terror strike against the United States.
But some Democratic lawmakers, including Tulsi Gabbard, the first-ever Hindu American lawmaker in the US Congress, are opposing any new American military involvement, including airstrikes.
“It makes no sense for us to consider going back there and getting involved in what truly is a religious civil war,” said Gabbard, a veteran of Iraq War who had served in field medical unit. In comments to CNN on Sunday, Gabbard said: “You can’t train away the core issue here, which is you have a Sunni versus Shia battle going on. You have Sunni commanders literally saying Sunnis soldiers will be defecting because of their displeasure with the Shia-led government.”
In a statement condemning the ISIS’ reported mass execution of Shia air force recruits, the State Department said “the United States will do its part to help Iraq move beyond this crisis” and urged all Iraqis to unite against the militant outfit’s path of hatred and violence.