Situation Report: Iraqi PM delivers some tough love; Washington defends Israel at U.N.; Ash Carter in India; and lots more

By Paul McLeary with Ariel Robinson

Coalition, heal thyself. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi turned his guns Tuesday on the international coalition that is providing trainers for his security forces and planes to bomb the Islamic State. He struck an accusatory tone during a Paris meeting aimed at outlining a way forward in the fight against the extremist group.

The Islamic State’s success “is a failure on the part of the world” to tramp down the appeal of militant Islam, he said, adding that “a lot of political work” needs to be done by coalition countries at home. Abadi also demanded an explanation as to “why there are so many terrorists from Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, Egypt [and] European countries. If it is due to the political situation in Iraq, why are Americans, French and German [fighters] in Iraq?”

The conference comes just weeks after the Iraqi provincial capital of Ramadi fell to several hundred Islamic State fighters who chased thousands of government troops out of the city — including Baghdad’s U.S. special operations-trained “Golden Division” — after a series of miscommunications between Iraqi commanders and their U.S. advisors.

The Islamic State’s campaign in Iraq has also captured the cities of Fallujah and Mosul, and Abadi said he wants more bombs and guns to beat it back. The U.S.-led air campaign is “too little” he said, and there is not enough aerial surveillance to monitor the militants. Meanwhile, weapons shipments from allies have not materialized, he said.

Allies? In asking for more strikes against Islamic State targets, Abadi joins a chorus of critics in Washington – many of whom are running for the Republican nomination for president in 2016 – who want to see more U.S. air power in Iraq.

But military officials say not so fast. About 25 percent of all air sorties currently flown over Iraq include a weapons release — almost the same as during the U.S. air campaign from 2003-2011. Target identification is difficult, officials say, since Islamic State militants move in small groups and among civilians.

“Our position is that the strike process is designed to do exactly what it is supposed to do,” Air Force spokesman Capt. Andrew Caulk emailed FP. Using an alternate name for the Islamic State, he said “we target Daesh when we find them and in a way that protects civilians. We will not stoop to the level of our enemy and put civilians more in harm’s way than absolutely necessary.”

Abadi’s frustration has been echoed by both Iraqi and American military officials — and even some fighter pilots — who have said that the use of airstrikes has been too restrictive, and does not inflict enough damage to the Islamic State.

The plan. While meetings in Paris are ongoing, senior State Department officials briefed reporters Monday on Abadi’s upcoming plan for the coalition. The five-step process includes “mobilizing the tribes of Anbar,” according to one U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. It also calls for increasing recruiting for the Iraqi Army, retraining tens of thousands of Iraqi police officers, bringing the country’s sectarian militias under government control, and upping economic aid from coalition countries.

In other words, the plan isn’t quick, it’s not easy, and it’s absolutely not going to be cheap. The U.S. has spent over $2 billion since August on the air campaign in Syria and Iraq. And all of these things have been roundly discussed for months already.

It’s nice to have friends. Washington’s ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, has been pushing to remove Israel from a soon-to-be-released U.N. document that is a “rogues’ list of government forces, rebel movements, and terrorist organizations accused of violating children’s rights in the midst of conflict,” FP’s Colum Lynch writes in an exclusive story. But the maneuvering doesn’t come from a simple sense of altruism. “This show of U.S. support for Israel at the United Nations is partially colored by the Obama administration’s desire to avoid a confrontation with Congress before it concludes the final delicate phase of its nuclear diplomacy with Iran, according to observers,” Lynch writes.

New friends, more deals. Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrived in India on Tuesday morning for meetings with Indian defense officials and politicians. It’s his first trip to India since taking over as secretary in February. Carter had earlier visited India in September 2013 and July 2012 while serving as the Defense Department’s No. 2 official, and for years has given speeches extolling New Delhi’s military and economic importance.

Last January, President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed a wide range of potential military technology-sharing initiatives. Carter is expected to follow up during his visit this week by signing a 10-year defense framework agreement, along with a defense technology and trade initiative to allow joint U.S. and Indian production of drones and missile defense technologies.

Welcome to the Situation Report, where we’re neither in Paris or New Dehli, but can still deliver the news. Let us know what’s happening in your world, won’t you? Try us at paul.mcleary@foreignpolicy.com, or on Twitter: @paulmcleary.

Military Competition

Popular Mechanics’ Joe Pappalardo has a fun — yes, we’re calling it fun — piece about how Russian and U.S. weapons would match up in a war.

Russia

Politico Europe has a great look at how Sweden is worried about Russian submarines operating in or near its waters, and how years of defense budget cuts and lack of sub-hunting drills are now coming back to haunt the country.

Egypt

Reuters reports that Cairo has thwarted a Muslim Brotherhood “plot against the state,” a day before a court is expected to deliver a final ruling on a death sentence recommendation against Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s former Islamist president.

China

Rescuers in China have reported that that they can hear survivors yelling for help inside a cruise ship that went down overnight in a storm on the Yangtze River with 458 people aboard.

Iraq

At least 42 Iraqi soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing that attacked a base north of Fallujah, Al Jazeera reports. The attack was carried out by an armored Humvee outfitted with explosives — potentially one of 2,300 Humvees that the Iraqi Army abandoned last year when the Islamic State seized Mosul.

At least 1,031 Iraqis were killed and an additional 1,684 were injured in violence and armed conflict in May, according to estimates tallied each month by the United Nations. That’s up from 812 Iraqis killed in April, FP’s Lara Jakes reports.

NATO

A series of U.S.-led NATO drills in Poland and the Baltics began Monday, according to Agence France-Presse. The drills involve more than 6,000 troops from 13 NATO countries, and come just as Washington downplays the fly-by of the USS Ross in the Black Sea by Russian fighter jets over the weekend.

Japan

The Japan Times reports that Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said that if “serious military tensions or an armed conflict occur in the Middle East or the Indian Ocean,” that could greatly impact Japanese ships carrying imports and exports. His government is considering providing “logistical support to foreign troops,” operating in the Middle East and elsewhere, he said.