Alwaght- According to Iraqi media, a high-ranking military delegation from Iraq has visited Washington at the invitation of the US Department of Defense to discuss military and security cooperation between the two countries.
Al-Sumariyah news reported that the delegation included Defense Minister Mohammad al-Abbasi, Iraqi Counterterrorism Service commander Abdelwahab al-Saadi, the Chief of Staff of Iraqi Armed Forces Abdulamir Rashid Yarallah, Deputy Commander of the Joint Operation Command Qais al-Mohamadawi, and a number of other military officials.
Before the visit, spokesman to the Iraqi military Yahya Rasool had stated that in this trip some of the issues, at the top of them future relations for the presence of the US-led international coalition and bilateral security cooperation, and the exchange of experiences and information and intelligence to chase the remaining elements of ISIS will be discussed.
The US military activities in Iraq for years have not taken place within the framework of the Iraqi sovereignty principles and military management, and this caused the future of military cooperation with the US to be shrouded in ambiguity for a large number of Iraqi politicians, elites, and public opinion. This state of ambiguity seems to have overshadowed the US goals behind inviting the Iraqi delegation and the content of negotiations with it.
Struggling for military stay in Iraq
Since the Iraqi parliament approved the law in January 2020 to expel the American troops, Washington has been struggling in various ways to circumvent this law and keep its military forces in Iraq.
Currently, there is no precise number of the American forces in Iraq, and the Pentagon seems to have very likely not provided precise data to the Iraqi government. At the same time, there is no information about US forces’ movement between Iraq and Syria or their base construction activities in the Kurdistan autonomous region.
In the last round of strategic talks between the two countries, which took place under Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, it was agreed that there will be no American forces with a combat role in Iraq until December 31, 2021. However, in the same agreements, Washington demanded maintaining its military personnel in the form of a shift from combat to training, advising, support, and intelligence mission.
In December 2022, a high-ranking American delegation including the commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM) General Michael Kurilla and commander of the international coalition in Iraq and Syria General Matthew McFarlane in a meeting with PM Mohammad Shia al-Sudani stressed the US demand for military cooperation with Baghdad and the PM highlighted the significance of joint work especially in training and advising the Iraqi forces that are professionally and effectively engaged in fighting terrorism. This showed that the White House has taken effective steps to impose its military stay in Iraq on Baghdad after December 2021.
Washington cites countering Iranian influence as the biggest reason for its military stay in Iraq, something marking an admission of the unbreakable Iraqi alliance with the Iran-led Axis of Resistance and also a recognition of strength of the anti-American forces that now account for a major part of the Iraqi government and parliament. A parallel policy the Americans follow in Iraq is control and dominance over the Iraqi economy and central bank. By threatening to sanction Baghdad, they follow a strategy of obstruction of cooperation with Tehran.
The US considers its military presence in Iraq as vital to control the political situation of this country and also recognizes a deep connection between this presence and its strategic interests in West Asia, to an extent that after the scandalous withdrawal from Afghanistan, the repetition of this scenario in Iraq will represent another blow to its regional and global image.
In addition to geostrategic and political importance of Iraq, the country is important in terms of energy and amid the energy crisis caused by Ukraine war, Baghdad is considered as one of the long-term oil export giants with its huge oil reserves. By solidifying its military presence in Iraq, the US intends to continue its control over three Iraqi energy and prevent big Chinese and European rivals from gaining a toehold in Iraq energy sector.
Also, in a broader picture of the West Asia security order, withdrawal from Iraq will deal blows to the US plans in Syria, damage Israeli security interests, motivate Arab countries to further de-escalation with Iran, and encourage deeper Russian and Chinese engagement in regional developments.
From ISIS threat to providing Iraqi military needs
The top agenda of the Washington talks is continuation of the US military support, particularly in fight against terrorism and ISIS movements, said the spokesman to the Iraqi military.
Though ISIS was organizationally obliterated in 2017 and its activities have substantially dropped, Iraqi political and military officials and even people of Sunni-majority regions repeatedly voice their concerns about resurgence of the terrorist group.
Meanwhile, though the US tries to define itself the forerunner in fight against terrorism and standing by the Iraqis, the marriage of the growing ISIS activities with the American interests and the push to maintain its forces in Iraq causes Iraqi public opinion and many politicians to consider the revival of the ISIS terrorist activities an American project.
For instance, in mid-July Ali al-Zubaidi, a member of the Shiite Coordination Framework (SCF) in the Iraqi parliament told Al-Maalomah news that by supporting terrorist factions in many provinces, Washington continues its hostility to the country’s capabilities, and the Public Mobilization Forces (PMF) have documented the American financial and military support to ISIS.
Suggesting that the US suspicious moves in border areas of Iraq and Syria require conservation, al-Zubaidi maintained: “All the suspicious movements made are instructions of the American embassy in Baghdad.”
But in addition to counterterrorism fight, behind hosting Iraqi delegation, Washington tries to block path of the access of rivals to the massive Iraqi arms market. In recent years, the Iraqi demand for advanced weapons from the US has been neglected. Even if provided, the American arms are costly and difficult to buy and maintain. So, Iraq could resort to rival providers like Russia, China, and Germany. Washington wants to prevent Baghdad from weapon deals with these actors.
Russian ambassador to Iraq Elbrus Kutrashev in December last year criticized the US for hindering technical and military cooperation between Moscow and Baghdad by showing unfair competition, adding: “the main important thing our Iraqi friends do not like about the American weapons is their high prices and maintenance costs which are four times higher than those of Russia.”
Kutrashev added that the US do not allow the Iraqi counterparts "to look inside the supplied equipment" and leave the maintenance of the delivered weapons to themselves.
