Pentagon Watchdog: US-Iran Tensions Drove Iraqis to Question US Support

Assassinating Iranian general complicates Iraq ties

The office of the Inspector General for the anti-ISIS coalition is warning that US tensions with Iran are in great measure informing the Iraqi government, and are probably raising doubt among Iraqi leaders about the future of US-Iraqi ties.

In particular, the report cited the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, killed in the Baghdad airport during a state visit to Iraq, as making many Iraqi leaders question whether the US could be counted on for long-term support.

Iraq has long opposed being a battleground for a US-Iran War, and that was already a problem, but the US followed this up with increased hostility toward Iraqi militias who they accused of being Iranian proxies. This greatly weakened US ties with Iraq’s military.

In top of that, Iraq’s parliament asked the US troops to leave over the assassination, and the Trump Administration furiously threatened to sanction them into bankruptcy. This, no doubt, is also raising questions about how Iraq can depend on the US in the long run.

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.