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Iraq’s ruling bloc wants Russian airstrikes, politician tells RT ‘lack of trust’ between Iraq & US
RT,
21
October, 2015
Iraq's
ruling alliance has written to the country’s prime minister,
requesting Russian help in the fight against ISIS terrorists. An
Iraqi politician told RT that the public wants Russian involvement
and there is breakdown in trust with the Americans.
“Therefore
it is understandable that the Iraqi parliament and the defense
committee would send a request to the prime minister to add more
forces and in particular the forces of the Russian Federation, which
has proved quite efficient in destroying [Islamic State] bases in
neighboring Syria.”
The
Iraqi politician told RT that the US has been “shy” in
its efforts to try and eliminate the threat posed by Islamic State
(formerly ISIS/ISIL). He also mentioned that not only is there a
consensus amongst Iraqi politicians for Moscow to be involved, but
also from the general public.
“The
public mood is definitely in favor of Russian involvement because it
has been over a year and a half now and ISIS has flourished in Iraq
under the American airstrikes. One could question the honesty and
integrity of the US airstrikes.”
Iraqi
security forces hold an Islamist State flag which they pulled down at
the University of Anbar, in Anbar province © Stringer / Reuters
Al-Matlabi
pointed to information received from US sources, which stated that 75
percent of American warplanes returned to base without firing their
weapons against ISIS targets, while Washington has not been
forthcoming in living up to its promises. The State of Law Alliance
member stated that so far Baghdad has only received “three
or four F-16’s” out
of a total of 36, which were promised back in 2011.
“There
is a lack of trust amongst the Iraqi forces towards the US
forces,” he
said. “The
Americans definitely do not trust the Iraqi forces; therefore the
Americans will not strike targets that they have been sent by Iraq.
The Americans only attack targets they define to be ISIS.”
Despite
this “breakdown
in trust,” he
said that Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi has been coming under
pressure from Washington not to ask for help from Moscow.
"Abadi told the meeting parties that it wasn't the right time to include the Russians in the fight because that would only complicate the situation with the Americans and could have undesired consequences even on long-term future relations with America," a senior Shi'ite politician close to Abadi told Reuters.
The
US’s top general announced Wednesday that he has been told by
Al-Abadi and Defense Minister Khaled Al-Obeidi that Baghdad would not
be seeking Russian assistance.
"Both the minister of defense and the prime minister said: 'Absolutely.' There is no request right now for the Russians to support them, there's no consideration for the Russians to support them, and the Russians haven't asked them to come in and conduct operations,” Gen. Joseph Dunford said on a visit to Iraq, as cited by Reuters.
The
US general, who was appointed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
on October 1, said that he was against Russia becoming involved as it
would make it harder for the US to operate.
Haider Al-Abadi
PM Al-Abadi discussed military developments with U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff http://pmo.iq/pme/press2015en/20-10-20152en.htm …
"I
said it would make it very difficult for us to be able to provide the
kind of support that you need if the Russians were here conducting
operations as well," Dunford
said.
However,
Dunford’s optimism seems to be contradicted by Al-Matlabi’s
admission and previous statements by Al-Abadi who on October 1 said
that he would “welcome” Russian
intervention.
A
destroyed building is seen at the University of Anbar, in Anbar
province © Stringer / Reuters
In
an interview with France-24 TV, he accused the US-led coalition of a
lack of support as well as questioning the will of the West to defeat
Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). He added that Russian
airstrikes were a “possibility” but
such an option had not been discussed.
“If
we get the offer, we’ll consider it,” Al-Abadi
said. “In
actual fact, I would welcome it.”
Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov seemed to rule out Moscow getting
involved for the moment, saying: "We
are not planning to expand our airstrikes to Iraq. We were not
invited, not asked."
"We
are polite people, as you know. We don’t come if not invited," he
said on October 1 at the UN General Assembly
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