More U.S. troops sent to help refugees in northern Iraq

BAGHDAD – The crisis over who will be Iraq’s next prime minister faded in Baghdad on Tuesday after Iran joined the United States in embracing the appointment of Haider al-Abadi to replace Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

But it was quickly replaced by growing concern that the effort to rescue tens of thousands of Yazidi refugees in northern Iraq was failing and would require far more resources than President Barack Obama indicated in a nationally televised speech last week.

The Pentagon dispatched an additional 130 U.S. military personnel to northern Iraq to “develop additional humanitarian assistance options,” the Obama administration announced late Tuesday, in an indication that the current effort to drop fresh water and meals-ready-to-eat to the refugees, who at one time were thought to number 40,000, might soon grow larger.

It came as Great Britain announced it had sent aircraft, including Chinook helicopters, to the area and was engaged in “urgent planning” with the United States “to get those trapped on the mountainside to safety.”

The precise number of refugees, most of whom fled into desolate mountains near the city of Sinjar Aug. 3 when militants from the Islamic State seized the city, has never been certain. U.S. officials, briefing reporters after Obama’s speech Thursday, said they believe an estimate from the United Nations that 40,000 were stranded was high. But independent aid officials in Baghdad said there might have been as many as 100,000 trapped.

On Tuesday night, U.S. Central Command announced that two C-17s and two C-130s dropped 14,112 military meals-ready-to-eat and 7,608 gallons of water to refugees.

The new deployment to northern Iraq includes Marines and special operations forces, but the troops “will not be engaged in a combat role,” the Pentagon said in a statement attributed to an unnamed senior defense official. “They will work closely with representatives from the U.S. Department of State and USAID to coordinate plans with international partners and non-government organizations committed to helping the Yazidi people,” the statement said.

The renewed urgency over aiding the Yazidis came as the fear of violence over the selection of a new prime minister receded in Baghdad after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni signaled that he backed the selection of al-Abadi to replace al-Maliki as prime minister.

Iran’s support is crucial for any national Shiite Muslim leader in Iraq, and Iranian officials have stepped in previously to keep al-Maliki in office. An alliance of Shiite political parties chose al-Abadi as their leader, ignoring al-Maliki’s quest to stay in office.

Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington noted that Iran’s backing of al-Abadi left al-Maliki little room to maneuver to keep his job.