BAGHDAD — America’s top commander in Iraq said Monday that he wants to deploy U.S. soldiers alongside Iraqi and Kurdish troops in a disputed swath of northern territory after a series of horrific bombings by insurgents hoping to stoke an Arab-Kurdish conflict.
The move would be a departure from the security pact under which Americans pulled back from populated areas June 30. But Gen. Ray Odierno warned that al-Qaeda in Iraq was exploiting tensions between the Iraqi army and the Kurdish militia, the peshmerga, to carry out attacks on villages not guarded by either side. The bombings have killed scores of people since Aug. 7.
The U.S. soldiers would act in an oversight role to help the troops work together to secure areas along a fault line of land claimed by both Arabs and Kurds, Odierno said, stressing that no final decision had been made.
“It won’t be for long if we do it. It’ll be just to build confidence in the forces so they’re comfortable working together, then we’ll slowly pull ourselves out,” Odierno told reporters during a briefing at the U.S. military headquarters on the outskirts of Baghdad.
Odierno said he had met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki earlier Monday and found him receptive to the idea.
Several top defense officials have identified the split between Iraq’s majority Arabs and the Kurdish minority as a greater long-term threat to Iraq’s stability than the Sunni-Shiite conflict.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates went to the Kurdish self-rule area in the north late last month to tell both sides they need to resolve differences before the U.S. leaves.
Odierno said al-Qaeda was targeting minorities, small towns that don’t have a police force and other so-called soft targets.
At issue
The split: At the heart of the split between Iraq’s majority Arabs and the Kurdish minority is the oil-rich city of Kirkuk as well as villages in Ninevah province that the Kurds want to incorporate into their semiautonomous area.
U.S. position: U.S. Gen. Ray Odierno says al-Qaeda is exploiting this fissure by targeting small towns that don’t have a police force and other so-called soft targets.
Checkpoints: The Kurd ish peshmerga have set up checkpoints on the outskirts of such villages and small towns to provide at least some security. Iraqi security forces stay out of these areas altogether, partly to avoid antagonizing the Kurds.
