WASHINGTON President Obama is considering a targeted, highly selective

campaign of airstrikes against Sunni militants in Iraq similar to counterterrorism

operations in Yemen, rather than the widespread bombardment of an air war, a
senior administration official said on Tuesday.
Such a campaign, most likely using drones, could last for a prolonged period,
the official said. But it is not likely to begin for days or longer, and would hinge on
the United States gathering adequate intelligence about the location of the
militants, who are intermingled with the civilian population in Mosul, Tikrit and
other cities north of Baghdad.
Even if the president were to order strikes, they would be far more limited in
scope than the air campaign conducted during the Iraq war, this official said,
because of the relatively small number of militants involved, the degree to which
they are dispersed throughout militant-controlled parts of Iraq and fears that
using bigger bombs would kill Sunni civilians.
At a meeting with his national security advisers at the White House on
Monday evening, the official said, Mr. Obama was presented with a sliding scale
of military options, which range from supplying the beleaguered Iraqi Army with
additional advisers, intelligence and equipment to conducting strikes targeting
members of the militant group, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
Much of the emphasis at the meeting, the official said, was on how to gather
useful intelligence about the militants. They are not wearing uniforms or sleeping
in barracks; and while there may be periodic convoys to strike, there are no
columns of troops or vehicles.
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Given all the hurdles to effective military action, Mr. Obama is continuing to
emphasize a political solution to the crisis, the official said. Administration
officials are prodding the Shiite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nuri
Kamal al-Maliki to take tangible steps to heal sectarian rifts with the countrys
Sunnis and Kurds.
This is not primarily a military challenge, the White House press secretary,
Jay Carney, said to reporters on Air Force One, even as he acknowledged that
Iraq needs significantly more help to break the momentum of extremist groups.
The United States is also exploring diplomatic options with Iraqs neighbors,
including Iran, though a senior official played down the extent of the coordination
with Iran, after the deputy secretary of state, William J. Burns, briefly broached
the crisis with his Iranian counterpart at nuclear negotiations in Vienna.
The limited scale of any military action may make it easier for Mr. Obama to
sell to Congress and the public. The United States already targets suspected
terrorists with drones and warplanes, either alone or with the local governments,
in Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia and Afghanistan. It provides intelligence and airlift
support for strikes in Mali.
Mr. Obama has invited the leaders of the House and Senate for a 3 p.m.
meeting in the Oval Office. Taking part will be the Senate majority leader, Harry
Reid of Nevada; the minority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of
Kentucky; the House speaker, John A. Boehner, and the House minority leader,
Representative Nancy Pelosi.
The administrations deliberations come amid signs that the sweeping
militant advances of last week are slowing down, as the fighters reach the more
heavily guarded gates of Baghdad.
Were seeing indications, certainly, that Iraqi security forces in and around
Baghdad are stiffening themselves, said Rear Adm. John F. Kirby, the Pentagon
press secretary. Theyre being assisted by Shia militia members. And it certainly
appears as if they have the will to defend the capital.
The White House is looking at a range of options that can be expanded or
scaled back depending on the gravity of the threat posed by the advancing
militants, current and former administration officials said.
Mr. Obama, Admiral Kirby said, hasnt made final decisions right now,
adding, We have to preserve that space for him to do that.
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One step that is likely to happen soon is the creation of one or more
intelligence fusion cells, where information gleaned from Iraqi commanders on
the ground is combined with satellite imagery, surveillance drones already flying
over Iraq, electronic intercepts and other technical information provided by the
United States.
American intelligence analysts and military planners sent by the Pentagon
would work alongside their Iraqi counterparts to help identify vulnerabilities in
the militants ranks, and disseminate that information to Iraqi ground troops.
Iraqi field reporting has never been very accurate, said one former American
general who fought in Iraq. They pass information to each other by cellphone, but
they really do not have a national structure where they can see everything thats
going on.
American surveillance and reconnaissance would help provide that fuller
picture, officials said. It would also lay the groundwork, should Mr. Obama order
armed drones to attack specific militant targets, in much the same way the Central
Intelligence Agency and the military have carried out drone strikes in Yemen.
Predator or Reaper drones have the advantage of being able to loiter for hours
over an area and launch their Hellfire missiles when a target such as a pickup
truck armed with a .50-caliber gun and loaded fighters emerges from a hiding
place or a crowded urban area.
While the administration has not ruled out larger scale airstrikes from
carrier-based aircraft in the Persian Gulf or land-based attack planes in the region,
possibly from Turkey or Kuwait, those kinds of strikes, typically using much larger
precision-guided bombs, increase the potential for civilian casualties, and agreeing
on basing arrangements could be problematic.
The U.S. will likely want to limit its exposure to the extent possible, said
Steven Simon, a scholar at the Middle East Institute and former senior National
Security Council official in the Obama administration.
Some current and former United States military officials said that without
American troops on the ground forward air controllers to identify targets,
airstrikes might have only a limited impact, especially as militant forces
intersperse themselves in urban areas.
Airstrikes will have only one good effect: to bolster morale of the Iraqi
Army, said the retired American general, who spoke on the condition of
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anonymity so as not to jeopardize business relations in the Middle East. Thats
not to be taken lightly. If the Iraqi Army feels were there to support them, theyre
probably willing to stand their ground.
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