Friday, March 20, 2015

U.S. military advisers in Iraq are largely dependent on an intelligence and security network linked to Iran

Gertz, Geostrat-Direct:
U.S., Iraq paying price for Iran’s security assistance against ISIL
Iran is increasingly directing the war effort in Iraq against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant fighters.
U.S. military advisers in Iraq are largely dependent on an intelligence and security network linked to Iran, officials said.
IRGC Gen. Qassem Soleiman in Tikrit, Iraq   
Most Iraqi forces are Shi’ites who have been joined by elite Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps fighters and trainers.
Thus the U.S. war effort risks being coopted by Iran and positioned as taking sides in sectarian clashes targeting Sunni civilians.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper acknowledged the conflict in a speech on March 2 to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Clapper downplayed the impact of ongoing U.S.-Iran negotiations over its nuclear program on conventional operations by ground forces in conflict arenas including Iraq.
"I don’t see that changing, regardless of the outcome of the negotiations," he said.
But Iran’s state media have reported that Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have discussed both the nuclear issue and the fight against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.
Other Iranian officials have suggested a linkage between strategic nuclear issues in negotiations with the West and the desire by the West for support against offensives by ISIL.

For the U.S. to rely on security assistance from Iran in Iraq weakens its negotiating posture in opposing strategic weapons developments by Iran, the officials said.

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