WASHINGTON \u2014 The Pentagon expressed disappointment on Tuesday over a decision by Iraqi militias to impose an explicitly Shiite name for a military operation in Iraq’s Sunni heartland, saying it could aggravate sectarian tensions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An umbrella group for mostly Shiite militia and volunteer fighters, Hashed al-Shaabi, said it had dubbed a military campaign to cut off the Islamic State group in Anbar province as “Operation Labaik ya Hussein,” which roughly translates as “We are at your service, Hussein.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The name refers to one of the most revered imams in Shiite Islam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I think it’s unhelpful,” spokesman Col. Steven Warren said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We’ve long said . . . the key to victory, the key to expelling ISIL from Iraq is a unified Iraq,” Warren said, using an alternative acronym for the IS group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That required “a unified Iraq that separates itself from sectarian divides, coalesces around this common threat and works to expel ISIL from Iraq,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The solution is a unified Iraqi government,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iraqi officials said about 4,000 fighters from the militia group were heading to the northern edge of Ramadi as a first step to eventually rolling back the IS jihadists from city, which fell to the extremists on May 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Iraqi government and its American allies had been reluctant to send in Iran-backed Shiite militia in Anbar \u2014 a predominantly Sunni province. But the IS advance in Ramadi \u2014 a major blow for both Baghdad and the US-led coalition \u2014 prompted Iraq to approve the deployment of the militias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Washington is wary of the militias with ties to Iran but has said it would support a role for all forces that remain under the authority of the Iraqi government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Many of them (militias in the Anbar area) are under the control of the central government,” Warren said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But he added: “I don’t know whether if any that are there are not under the control of the government.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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