Α)New top US general looks to capitalize on Iraq successes
By Lolita Baldor, The Associated Press
BAGHDAD
— In a bid to capitalize on some recent battle successes in Iraq,
Baghdad leaders told a top U.S. general Tuesday that they will move to
improve coordination between the country's disparate and sometimes
warring factions battling Islamic State militants.
Gen. Joseph
Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Prime Minister
Haider al-Abadi and Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi agreed to begin
talks Wednesday with U.S. leaders on selecting a single commander who
can speak for all the groups when trying to coordinate missions with the
U.S.-led coalition.
The move, he said, will allow the Iraqi
security forces, the Kurdish government forces known as the Peshmerga,
the Sunni tribes and the popular mobilization troops to work better
together.
"We need somebody who is empowered by you to make
decisions and work with us, so we can provide support across all Iraqi
forces," Dunford said he told them, adding that a fundamental principle
of commanding and controlling forces is "wherever two or more are
gathered, one must be in charge."
Dunford traveled to Iraq Tuesday
in the last segment of a five-day trip, which also included stops in
Israel and Jordan. It was his first trip to the war zone since taking
the chairman's job on Oct. 1, and he spent time meeting with military
commanders and leaders of the Kurdish government in northern Iraq in the
morning, then went to Baghdad
