The US-led coalition has issued a statement confirming that they intend
to comply with new demands from Iraqi PM Adel Abdul-Mahdi regarding the
use of Iraqi airspace for US warplanes.
Abdul-Mahdi called for an end to all “unauthorized flights,” whether US drones, spy planes, jets, or helicopters, and insisted that planes that do operate in Iraqi airspace must comply with Iraqi law and under Iraqi government direction.
That is a surprisingly tall order for Iraq to make toward the US, though
with parliament’s increasing annoyance at the US remaining in Iraq at
all, and the US hostility toward Iran just adding to the tensions, the
premier may have felt he needed to do something to bring them more under
control.
The Pentagon’s statement suggested this isn’t a problem, but US
political officials may not feel the same way, as they’ve clearly been
trying to pressure Iraq into cutting ties with Iran, and have been
looking to escalate in the region to that end.
US Agrees to Comply With New Iraq Directive on Military Flights
PM insists 'unauthorized' flights must stop
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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