US mulls sending military training teams to Lebanon, Iraq

Commanders told to explore ways to increase security assistance to Lebanon and Iraq as Syria violence spills across its borders and Iraq faces growing threats from Al Qaeda.

Associated Press

June 28, 2013

WASHINGTON // US military commanders have been told to explore ways to increase security assistance to Lebanon and Iraq.

The order came as the violence in Syria spills across the borders and the Iraqis face growing threats from the local Al Qaeda offshoot.

General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said the assistance is aimed at improving the two nations' military capabilities and could include sending in US training teams and accelerating foreign military sales of weapons and equipment to Iraq and Lebanon.

Gen Dempsey made the recommendation to US Central Command in recent weeks, according to the air force Colonel Ed Thomas, a spokesman for the army general. There have been no US military trainers in Iraq since troops left at the end of 2011, as the war there ended. But the US has provided military training and assistance to Lebanon for a number of years.

"Militarily, what we're doing is assisting our partners in the region, the neighbours of Syria, to ensure that they're prepared to account for the potential spillover effects," Gen Dempsey said during a Pentagon briefing on Wednesday. "As you know, we've just taken a decision to leave some Patriot missile batteries and some F-16s in Jordan as part of the defence of Jordan. We're working with our Iraqi counterparts, the Lebanese Armed Forces and Turkey through Nato."

He said that as he looked at the challenges being faced by Syria's neighbours, including the re-emergence of Al Qaeda in Iraq, he determined that the US should help them build up their military abilities. He said the assistance would not involve sending US combat troops into Lebanon or Iraq.

The US last week left about a dozen F-16 fighter jets in Jordan, where they will be flying and conducting training operations. The Pentagon also left a Patriot missile battery there, bringing the total number of American forces in Jordan to about 1,000.

US officials said the increased show of military might in Jordan was a signal to Syria that it must confine its civil war within its borders. The officials said it is meant to show that the US was committed to its defence relationship with Jordan and that America intended to maintain a strong presence in the region.

Gen Dempsey and the defence secretary, Chuck Hagel, declined to provide any additional information about US plans to provide weapons to Syrian rebels, other than to say that the US military has no role so far in that programme.

According to officials, the CIA was coordinating the effort to arm the rebel groups.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”