A fragile partnership in Iraq tries to prevent Daesh revival

A fragile partnership in Iraq tries to prevent Daesh revival

LHEIBAN, Iraq: As a backhoe dug up the ground to build trenches, Iraqi soldiers scanned the vast farming tracts for militants; not far away, their Kurdish counterparts did the same. The scene earlier this month in the small northern Iraqi farming village of Lheiban was a rare instance of coordination between the federal government and the semi-autonomous Kurdish region. The two sides were fortifying a joint position aimed at defending the village against attacks by the Daesh group. Despite a long-standing territorial dispute, Baghdad and Iraq’s Kurds are taking steps to work together to prevent a resurgence of the Daesh group. Whether the fragile security partnership can hold is the big test in the next chapter of Iraq’s war with Daesh. Both sides say they need the Americans to help keep it together — and they say that is one reason why the US military presence in Iraq is not going away even as its combat mission officially ends on Dec. 31. Iraq declared Daesh defeated four years ago this month. But the rivalry between Baghdad and the Kurds opened up cracks through which IS crept back: a long, disputed zone snaking through four provinces -- Nineveh, Kirkuk, Salaheddin and