US military advisers arrive in Iraq as fighters gain territory
MILITARY advisers from the US returned to Iraq yesterday, as Islamist militia made further gains in the north of the country.
Fighters for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) assaulted an airfield in northern Iraq, just 55 miles north of Baghdad. The militants also reportedly took a number of small oil fields in the same region.
Hundreds of military advisers from the US arrived in the country, after support was offered by President Barack Obama last week. However, officials have repeatedly stressed that they do not regard the use of American troops in this context as military intervention.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki is also refusing to consider a government of national unity. A week ago, the increasing pressured Maliki sacked a number of top military officers.
“Even with the risk of a loss of Iraqi supply receding, the world will have to get used to oil running at a slightly higher level for the foreseeable future, so long as the ‘doomsday scenario’ of an Iraq completely under ISIS control remains,” said IG market analyst David Madden.