WASHINGTON: A resurgence of violence and a renewed threat from Al Qaeda have recently revived flagging US interest in Iraq, officials say, as Baghdad asked for new help to fight extremists less than two years after it forced American troops to withdraw.
Faced with security crises across the Mideast, North Africa and Asia, the White House largely has turned its attention away from Iraq since US forces left in 2011. But the country has been hit with deadly bombings at a rate reminiscent of Iraq’s darkest days, stoking new fears of a civil war. More than 1,000 Iraqis were killed in terror-related attacks in July, the deadliest month since 2008.
The violence has spurred Baghdad to seek new US aid to curb the threat, said Iraqi Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. He said a US assistance package could include a limited number of advisers, intelligence analysis and surveillance assets — including lethal drones.
“There is greater realisation in the Iraq government that we should not shy away from coming and asking for some help and assistance,” Zebari told reporters on Friday in Washington.
He described US interest in Iraq after the 2011 troop withdrawal as “indifferent, completely” but said that seemed to shift as the White House realised Al Qaeda’s resurrection there.
“Recently I noticed, and during this visit specifically, there is a renewed interest because of the seriousness of the situation and the challenges,” Zebari said. “I think that is because of the threat of terrorism, the threat of the renewal of Al Qaeda and its affiliates has become a serious, serious concern to the US.”
Zebari attributed the insurgency’s comeback to its partnerships with Al Qaeda fighters in neighbouring Syria and outlawed Baath Party extremists in Iraq’s south. Intelligence experts have described the terror group’s footing in Iraq and Syria as a new Al Qaeda hub in the Mideast, one that has sought for years to underscore Baghdad’s inability to protect its people.
A senior US administration official this week said the number of suicide bombings in Iraq has more than tripled over the last months, and it’s believed that most of the attackers are coming from Syria.
“Iraq is no longer viewed as central to everything the US cares about in the Middle East. But Iraq is still relevant to a wide range that the US cares about,” said Jon Alterman, a Mideast expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
In the 20 months since the troop withdrawal, the US has sought to stay out of Iraqi affairs and engage with its government as Washington would with any other nation.
Still, US officials say they remain actively involved in Iraq, and have quietly stepped up diplomatic efforts since March, when US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Baghdad for the first time in his new post. They largely have focused on ensuring Sunni Muslims are included in Iraq’s Shia-led government, and have urged Shia leaders to resist retaliating to the Sunni insurgency’s attacks.
But the engagement also has centred on making sure Iraq’s government remains independent from the Shia government in Iran and staying out of the civil war in Syria, where Sunni Muslim rebels are seeking to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad, an Alawite. Alawites are an offshoot of Shia Islam.
Washington has repeatedly chastised Baghdad for allowing Iranian planes to fly weapons over Iraqi airspace to Assad’s forces, a violation of UN sanctions.
AP
