US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats addressed the Senate
Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, addressing a series of “threats”
faced by the United States, and broadly contradicting President Trump on
a number of issues.
Coats’ intelligence assessments singled out almost every major foreign policy issue,
playing up the threat posed by ISIS in Syria, dismissing North Korean
denuclearization, and touting Russia and China as big threats to the
2020 election.
Mostly Coats was telling Senate hawks what they want to hear. On Iraq,
however, he presented the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) militias as
the “primary threat” to the US. These Shi’ite militias are part of the Iraqi government.
The US has struggled with its policy toward the PMF, backing them in
Iraq throughout the ISIS war as indispensable allies, but quickly
labeling them enemies if they crossed into neighboring Syria to fight
against ISIS there. When in Syria, they get labeled ‘Iranian-backed
militias,’ because they are Shi’ites.
Singling out Russia and China as vague “threats” to the election doesn’t
really counsel any policy changes. That isn’t really the case for
playing up the PMF threat, which is likely to further alienate the US
from Iraqi political blocs aligned with those militias, at a time when
those blocs are already debating asking the US to leave.
Coats’ ISIS assessment in Syria seemed to undermine the pullout by
presenting them as an enduring threat. On the other hand, he didn’t
address the Afghan peace process, simply predicting a continued
stalemate.
US Intel Chief Hypes Many Threats US Is Facing, Contradicts Trump
Says Iraqi Shi'ite militias are 'primary threat'
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.
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