Nouri al-Maliki

Iraq’s Vice President Nouri al-Maliki is in Moscow where he openly declared that he seeks a military and political alliance with the Russian Federation. After talks with Valentina Matvienko, the Speaker of the Federation Council of Russia, al-Maliki stated the following,

“It is known that Russia has historically strong relations with Iraq. So, we would like Russia to have a substantial presence in our country, politically and militarily. This way, a balance would be established that would benefit the region, its peoples and its countries”.

Iraq’s Vice President Nouri al-Maliki is on his way to Moscow for meetings with Russian officials including President Putin. Recently, Iraq confirmed the purchase of a large quantify of T-90 tanks from Russia and Iraq’s Vice President recent confirmed that he seeks to purchase further weapons for his country from Russian suppliers.

A day after Baghdad confirmed the purchase and delivery of multiple T-90 tanks from Russia, Iraq’s Vice President Nouri al-Maliki has praised Russia for its vital role in the fight against terrorism.
Although Russian forces have fought terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS in Syria rather than Iraq, Iraq’s Vice President understands the fight in Syria to be a mutual fight for the security of his own country.

Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend said Iraq’s government had expressed interest in having US and coalition troops stay.

(MEE) — The United States and several coalition countries want to maintain a military footprint in Iraq after the eventual defeat of the Islamic State (IS) group, a top US general said on Tuesday.

Official Washington’s neocons, the mainstream U.S. media and Donald Trump are on the same page at least in blaming President Obama for ISIS, a case of all three parties being wrong, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar explains. By Paul…Read more →

The neocon-engineered disaster in Iraq continues to unfold with protests now penetrating the super-secure Green Zone, but Official Washington resists obvious lessons, says ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar The temporary takeover of the Iraqi parliament building…Read more →

Photo credit:  A handout picture released by the acting Iraqi Prime Minster’s Office shows newly-appointed Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi (R) meeting with the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Baghdad (AFP)
 
 
 

 The new Prime Minister Haidar Abadi needs to bring independent Sunnis to power and have them shoulder responsibility for security and nation-building – this is the only way to prevent them from one day tilting towards the ISIS

 In Iraq the army shows no signs of recovering from its earlier defeats and has failed to launch a single successful counter-attack; in Syria the other opposition groups, including the battle-hardened fighters of al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham, are demoralised and disintegrating as they are squeezed between ISIS and the Assad government.

 
 

Today Iraq is at war, and in danger of breaking apart. With Islamist militants and Sunni insurgents fighting a war against the government in Baghdad, the country is headed for total collapse and partition. But this war did not start with ISIS conquering Mosul. It did not start with Maliki consolidating power. It began before the last US troops ever left Iraq. It began when Maliki decided that he would not be cowed by US threats and diktats. It began the second Iraq tried to assert itself independently. And for this, Iraq is paying the ultimate price.

Al-Akhbar | February 24, 2014

Iran has signed a deal to sell Iraq arms and ammunition worth $195 million, according to documents seen by Reuters – a move that would break a UN embargo on weapons sales by Tehran.
The agreement was reached at the end of November, the documents showed, just weeks after Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki returned from Washington, where he lobbied the Obama administration for extra weapons to fight al Qaeda-linked militants.