Obama, Iraqi PM to hold Washington talks over US role in fight against Islamic State
Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi and President Barack Obama will discuss the fight against Islamic State on Tuesday at a White House meeting likely to be dominated by Iraqi requests for US arms and tension over Iran’s role on the battlefield.
In his first US trip since becoming prime minister, Abadi is expected to seek billions of dollars in drones and other US weapons to combat Islamic State, which seized much of northern and central Iraq last year.
Obama’s administration, which welcomed Abadi’s ascension after a tricky relationship with former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, may not agree to all of the requests.
Nonetheless, the high-profile meeting in the Oval Office is meant to convey a US stamp of approval for a leader who has sought to be more inclusive than his predecessor in governing Iraq.
Obama, who came to power on the back of a promise to end the war in Iraq, is restricted by public aversion to US entanglement in another regional conflict and congressional constraints on his budget authority.
“The US is not going to be willing to step up in terms of major military support. It’s unclear that the US can budget for major aid,” said Anthony Cordesman, foreign policy expert at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington.