{"id":61516,"date":"2014-11-15T14:30:18","date_gmt":"2014-11-15T14:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2014\/11\/15\/dempsey-in-iraq-to-assess-campaign\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T06:53:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:53:34","slug":"dempsey-in-iraq-to-assess-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2014\/11\/15\/dempsey-in-iraq-to-assess-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Dempsey in Iraq to assess campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>BAGHDAD<span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> (AP<\/span>) \u2014 America&#8217;s top military leader arrived in Iraq on Saturday on a previously unannounced visit, his first since a U.S.-led coalition began launching airstrikes against the extremist Islamic State group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The visit by Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, came just two days after he told Congress that the United States would consider dispatching a modest number of American forces to fight with Iraqi troops against the extremist group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Iraqi military and security forces, trained by the U.S. at the cost of billions of dollars, melted away in the face of the group&#8217;s stunning offensive this summer, when it captured most of northern and western Iraq, including the country&#8217;s second-largest city Mosul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dempsey said Thursday that Iraqi forces were doing a better job now, although an effort to move into Mosul or to restore the border with Syria would require more complex operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also told the U.S. House Armed Services Committee that America has a modest force in Iraq now, and that &#8220;any expansion of that, I think, would be equally modest.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I just don&#8217;t foresee a circumstance when it would be in our interest to take this fight on ourselves with a large military contingent,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dempsey&#8217;s spokesman, Air Force Col. Ed Thomas, said the general planned to visit U.S. troops, commanders and Iraqi leaders. &#8220;The primary purpose of his visit is to get a firsthand look at the situation in Iraq, receive briefings, and get better sense of how the campaign is progressing.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The visit so far has included talks in Baghdad with U.S. Ambassador Stuart E. Jones and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Thomas said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dempsey later flew to Irbil, capital of Iraq&#8217;s largely autonomous northern Kurdish region, where the U.S. has a joint operations center. Thomas said Dempsey met in Irbil with Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pentagon has plans to establish an expeditionary advise and assist center in Irbil where U.S. troops will provide assistance to Iraqi forces at the brigade and higher headquarters levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. also is planning to set up a training site around Irbil, where teams can train and equip Iraqi brigades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to plans laid out last week, the U.S. expects to train nine Iraqi security forces brigades and three Kurdish Peshmerga brigades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dempsey&#8217;s visit to Iraq comes just one day after Iraqi forces drove Islamic State militants out of a strategic oil refinery town north of Baghdad, scoring their biggest battlefield victory yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Saturday, state television said government forces were in full control of the refinery, Iraq&#8217;s largest, which lies some 20 kilometers (15 miles) north of the town of Beiji.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The recapture of Beiji marks the latest in a series of setbacks for the jihadi group, which has lost hundreds of fighters to U.S.-led coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, particularly in the group&#8217;s stalled advance on the Syrian town of Kobani. On Friday, activists there reported significant progress by the town&#8217;s Kurdish defenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile on Saturday, two parked car bombs exploded minutes apart north of Baghdad, targeting a checkpoint staffed by army soldiers and security forces, authorities said. The attack killed nine people and wounded 32, according to police and hospital officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Later, a booby-trapped house in northern Baghdad blew up as a joint army and police force searched it for weapons, killing five and wounding 10, according to hospital and police officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">___<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Baldor reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Bram Janssen in Irbil, Iraq contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>America&#8217;s top military leader arrived in Iraq on Saturday on a surprise visit, his first since a U.S.-led coalition began launching airstrikes against the extremist Islamic State 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