AhlulBayt News Agency - During a visit to Baghdad on Monday, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said his country is sending hundreds more troops to assist Iraqi forces in the anticipated offensive to retake the northern city of Mosul.
Washington made clear that most of the 560 additional troops will work out of Qayara air base.
The announcement comes shortly after the Iraqi army made landmark gains against ISIS and recaptured the Qayara airbase leading many to think that the timing of the US decision is part of a bid to sweep the victory and claim it as its own, particularly that this location will be used as a staging ground for the Mosul operation.
Again, Washington wants to look as if it came to the rescue and saved Iraq from the threat of ISIS and in turn appear as the leader of the anti-terror campaign in the world.
"With these additional U.S. forces I'm describing today, we'll bring unique capability to the campaign and provide critical support to the Iraqi forces at a key moment in the fight," Carter told a gathering of U.S. troops in Baghdad.
Carter had told reporters that the United States would now help turn Qayara into a logistics hub.
Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, commander of the coalition against so-called Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, said the additional troops play various roles.
"(They are) coming in to help expand the base at Qayara West airfield into a node that can support the Iraqi security forces as they move forward with the Mosul operation, and it’ll be an operational air base."
But after all the hard work that the Iraqi army, Popular Mobilizations forces, and tribal fighters have put into these battles, US officials speak as if they deserve credit for the advances. In fact, re-seizing Mosul from ISIS militants would not be possible were it not for the efforts of Iraqis who continue to pave the way to this liberation with their blood and sweat.
When and if Mosul is regained, the US is getting ready to receive the lion’s share of acknowledgement after it arrives near the end of the crucial preparations for the main battle. Taking over the operation room at this stage indicates a plan to stir military developments to their advantage so the Americans can reap what they did not sow, the seeds of victory.
Furthermore, observers believe that the plot does not end when the gates of Mosul are reopened. Instead, they perceive the ongoing American attempts to lead the military operation in Iraq’s second city as a maneuver that would lead to the implementation of desired policies in Iraq, namely to divide and conquer.
Confederalism has been allegedly on the US agenda. Many fear that a recipe to push Iraq towards confederalism, consisting of Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite regions, and finally towards the partition of the Arab state into three states is being prepared.
Last month, Masrour Barzani, the Iraqi Kurdish security chief, called for dividing Iraq into three separate entities after the defeat of ISIS.
“Federation hasn’t worked, so it has to be either confederation or full separation,” the son of KRG President Masoud Barzani told Reuters in Erbil. “If we have three confederated states, we will have equal three capitals, so one is not above the other.”
However, the US Department of State asserted that its policy on Iraq’s unity has not changed. Concurrently, the US has previously acted on the sly.
In 2006, then a U.S. Senator Joe Biden argued that Iraq needed to be split into three parts.
"The Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite regions would each be responsible for their own domestic laws, administration and internal security. The central government would control border defense, foreign affairs and oil revenues."
The proposal was rejected by the Bush administration but was endorsed by the Senate in 2007. However, this does not mean that the notion has evaporated.
For now, previous experiences with the US have taught Baghdad not to trust the Americans. However, in these times of war, there is no telling how far those in power are willing to go to secure their interests. For now, liberating Iraq from terrorism is a priority but this does not mean that Iraqis should let down their guard before their former invaders to get rid of the current ones.
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source : Al Waqt
Thursday
14 July 2016
7:14:21 AM
765764
During a visit to Baghdad on Monday, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said his country is sending hundreds more troops to assist Iraqi forces in the anticipated offensive to retake the northern city of Mosul.