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                   Iraq's Maliki Presses for US Military Aid

   by VOA News

   Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is expected to ask for more U.S.
   military equipment and greater anti-terror cooperation when he meets
   with President Barack Obama at the White House on Friday.

   The visit comes nearly two years after Maliki's government refused to
   let U.S. forces remain in Iraq with the legal immunity that Washington
   insisted was needed to protect U.S. troops.  At the height of the legal
   standoff, Obama ordered the withdrawal of all U.S. forces by the end of
   2011.

   In recent months, Iraq has slid further into deadly sectarian violence,
   raising fears the country could slip into another all-out war. The
   White House said on Thursday that continued assistance to Iraq is
   necessary, but did not respond to reporters' queries about whether the
   president can overcome growing congressional questions about such aid.

   A senior U.S. official said a delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Iraq is
   on track for late next year despite some earlier delays. Iraq recently
   made a $650 million down payment for the planes.
   In meetings Thursday with senior U.S. officials, including Vice
   President Joe Biden, Maliki largely blamed the resurgence of al-Qaida
   in Iraq on the civil war in neighboring Syria.
   He said the Sunni militant group was able to exploit the unrest spawned
   in 2011 by the Arab Spring movement that toppled several Middle East
   dictatorships. He also said that the uprisings failed to provide
   immediate post-protest leadership, and al-Qaida used that leadership
   vacuum to gain strength.
   However, some U.S. officials are linking Iraq's killing surge to the
   failure of Maliki's Shi'ite dominated government to share power with
   Sunni Muslims. A group of influential U.S. senators is urging caution.
   Led by Senator John McCain, the group of six senators wants Maliki to
   come up with a political and security strategy for stabilizing the
   country. They are calling for increased counterterrorism support for
   Iraq, but only as part of a comprehensive plan that unites Iraqis of
   every sect.
   More than 7,500 people have been killed in sectarian violence in Iraq
   this year, most of them since April, when government forces stormed a
   Sunni protest encampment north of Baghdad.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/iraqs-maliki-presses-for-us-military-
   aid/1781261.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/iraqs-maliki-presses-for-us-military-aid/1781261.html