Iraqi leader will seek continued U.S. help in ISIL fight

WASHINGTON — In his first visit as prime minister, Iraq's Haider al-Abadi arrives in Washington this week seeking more help from the United States to battle the Islamic State, which has seized nearly one-third of his country.

The U.S. will likely be receptive to the request because it also sees the terrorist group as a growing threat. But the U.S. will also have an appeal of its own — that Iraq pursues reconciliation among sectarian groups and keeps its distance from Shiite militias backed by Iran.

"We need him to wean the Iraq military force from these Iranian-backed militias," said James Jeffrey, a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

The White House views al-Abadi, who is scheduled to meet with President Obama on Tuesday, as a leader with the potential to achieve reconciliation. The policies of his predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki, antagonized Sunnis and helped create a climate that allowed the Islamic State to seize large swaths of the country last year.

Iraq's army refused to fight in Mosul, the nation's second-largest city, allowing it to fall in June to the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS. Some Sunnis were willing to support the militants because they had been so alienated by al-Maliki's government.

Distrust among Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds deepened during al-Maliki's reign, "creating serious obstacles" to any effort to combat the Islamic State militants, Vice President Biden said last week in a speech. He also praised al-Abadi for creating an inclusive government in "record time."

Since being named prime minister in August, al-Abadi has reached an agreement with the Kurds over sharing oil revenue. The move helped mend a long-standing source of tension between the Kurds and the Shiite-dominated government. He has also provided arms to Sunni tribes in Anbar province, where residents are fighting Islamic State militants.

However, the sectarian divisions in the country are deep and won't be easily healed. Shiite militias have helped liberate some areas, but they have been accused by Sunnis and human rights groups of torturing and abusing the minority Muslim group in some of those towns. Iraq's government is short on conventional forces and needs the militias to bolster its forces.

The recent liberation of Tikrit, a Sunni city north of Baghdad, may serve as a model of how future operations can work, Jeffrey said. When Iraq first launched the offensive several weeks ago, Iranian-backed Shiite militias were in the lead.

But the offensive bogged down and Iraq requested U.S. airstrikes. The United States agreed to conduct the strikes if Iraq removed the Iranian-backed militias from the offensive. Shiite militias under the control of the central government were allowed to remain in the battle, the Pentagon said.

Within days, the Islamic State was pushed out of the city. "We were prepared to help in the battle with volunteers both Shia and Sunni fighting alongside Iraqi forces, but only if all elements in the fight operated strictly under the chain of command of the Iraqi military," Biden said.

Obama has ruled out conventional U.S. forces on the ground in Iraq. But the White House has dispatched several thousand troops to protect U.S. infrastructure and to train and advise Iraqi forces, many of which collapsed last year in the face of the Islamic State onslaught.

The United States is conducting daily airstrikes against Islamic State targets throughout Iraq and has delivered 100 million rounds of ammunition, 1,700 Hellfire missiles and other equipment.

"ISIL's momentum in Iraq has halted, and in many places, has been flat-out reversed," Biden said.