US to Cut Iraq Intel Sharing, Citing Russia

Officials Say Russia Is Hurting US War in Iraq

Yesterday’s announcement that Iraq is going to engage in intelligence sharing with Russia and Syria has been met negatively by Pentagon officials, who say that it “complicates” the US war and dramatically weakens America’s own intelligence gathering abilities.

This problem appears to be largely a function of US annoyance at the information sharing, which means the Pentagon intends to limit intelligence sharing with Iraq, seemingly out of spite, and will subsequently get less intelligence from Iraq in return.

Iraqi Defense Ministry officials revealed today that they are also open to the idea of Russia carrying out surveillance flights over Iraqi airspace, likely reflecting their desire to keep getting reports from a foreign air force, even if it’s not the US.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren criticized the Russian efforts, but insisted the US war would continue with or without intelligence sharing. He suggested Iraq should’ve recognized that they were already “well-served” by US surveillance flights over their country and spurned Russia’s offer.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.