Kerry Gets the Real Picture on Iraq

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright March 25, 2013
All Rights Reserved.                                         

        Meeting with 63-year-old Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, 69-year-old Secretary of State John Kerry urged the apparent U.S. ally to stop Iranian air flights over Iraqi airspace, re-supplying Syrian forces to stave off a two-year-old rebel revolt.  Commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the Iraq War, there’s plenty of regrets U.S. officials have about sacrificing 4,886 U.S. soldiers and nearly $2 trillion.  Expecting al-Maliki to betray his patrons in Tehran is like asking Walt Disney to sellout Mickey Mouse.  Instead of meeting his objective of Democratizing the Middle East, former President George W. Bush accomplished pushing Iraq closer than ever into Iran’s orbit. When Saddam Hussein ruled the roost, Baghdad and Tehran has little or no relationship.  Baghdad’s relationship with Tehran is one of a seamless Shiite ally, with close social, cultural and religious ties.

             Kerry’s predecessor, 64-year-old Hillary Rodham Clinton, backed supplying Syrian rebels to topple Syrian strongman 47-year-old Bashar al-Assad.  Kerry’s request to al-Maliki to block al-Assad’s No. 1 ally, Iran, from re-supplying his military, runs afoul with Baghdad’s allies in Tehran.  While al-Maliki promised he’d inspect Iranian supply missions to Damascus, he’s given Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the green light to do what’s needed to defend al-Assad.  Kerry told al-Maliki that ferrying supplies to Damascus hurts Baghdad’s national security but couldn’t exactly say how.  Al-Maliki not only allows flights over Iraqi airspace he routinely permits Iranian trucks to cross into Iraq en route to Damascus with war materiel.  Kerry recalls as a member off the Senate Foreign Relations Committee how Iran protected 39-year-old radical Shiite Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

             Al-Sadr’s al-Mahdi militia battled U.S. forces in Fallujah [April 4, 2004-May 1, 2004], causing untold numbers of U.S. casualties.  Al-Sadr’s forces strung dead U.S. soldiers up like Christmas ornaments on the Euphrates River Bridge.  When sought dead-or-alive by U.S. forces, al-Maliki granted al-Sadr safe passage to Tehran where he stayed protected by the Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for years.  Surely Kerry knows that al-Maliki has more loyalty to Tehran than Washington, despite all the wasted U.S. blood and treasure.  Showing how the U.S. State Dept. doesn’t have its act together with its Syrian policy, an unnamed U.S. official confirmed that al-Qaeda was gaining a foothold in Syria.  Known as Jabhat al-Nusra, Iraq’s most powerful al-Qaeda offshoot now joins forces with Palestinians and other radical groups in Syria to topple al-Assad’s Alawite Shiite regime.

             Kerry tells al-Maliki that permitting Iran to ferry supplies to al-Assad is “problematic,” while, at the same time, complaining about Jabbat al-Nusra’s support for Syrian rebels seeking to topple Damascus.  Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Premier Xi Jimping both see growing terrorism sponsored by the revolt against al-Assad as the real threat to the region.  Both Russia and China feel strongly that the U.S.-led Iraq War destabilized the region by opening up the terrorist floodgates in Iraq.  When Saddam ruled the roost with U.S. backing before the Iraq War, al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups had nothing to do with Iraq.  Kerry can’t have it both ways:  Seeking stability in the region and backing known terrorist groups seeking to topple al-Assad.  Whether anyone liked Saddam Hussein or now al-Assad, both maintained enough order in their countries to keep terrorists out.

             Instead of giving al-Maliki ultimatums about helping Tehran to ferry supplies to Damascus, Kerry should get the real facts about rebel groups seeking to topple al-Assad in Syria.  Watching suicide bombing in Iraq should remind Kerry that the sectarian wars between Sunnis and Shiites goes on, regardless of U.S. presence.  Launching 20 attacks in Iraq that killed 65 civilians, Iraq’s al-Qaeda cell boasted about avenging Sunni deaths at the hands of Iraq’s Shiite government.  With sectarian deaths exceeding 100,000, the ongoing civil war between Shiites and Sunnis goes on.  Giving more aid-and-comfort to rebel groups in Syria only adds to the violence and instability.  When Kerry digests the facts he’ll realize that supporting al-Assad, while not popular, will add to less violence and chaos.  Backing al-Qaeda-based terror groups only adds to the region’s terrorism and instability.

             Accompanying President Barack Obama to Israel, Ramallah and Jordan, Kerry got a firsthand look at the problems in the region. Backing rebel groups doesn’t add to the region’s stability by promoting more beheadings and suicide bombings.  Pressing al-Maliki to betray Tehran won’t improve the regions stability, only hasten an end of al-Assad’s rule.  Given Russia and China’s strong belief that al-Assad provides more regional stability than any rebel faction, Kerry should rethink the prevailing wisdom in the U.S., Europe and the U.K. that it’s time for al-Assad to go.  All indications point toward more terrorism and chaos backing any of the rebel groups seeking to topple al-Assad.   Permitting Iran to continue re-supplying Damascus should help keep the region’s longstanding law-and-order.  Blocking al-Assad’s supply-chain could lead to a violent overthrow and more political chaos.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.