Russia is considering airstrikes against IS in Iraq. Should Baghdad seek our help then we would intervene, a statement read. This could prove as particularly dangerous for NATO-member Turkey that currently is leading its own private war in northern Iraq.
This article originally appeared at DWN, exclusively translated for South Front by Frank Jakob.
Russian president Vladimir Putin is continuing his initiative in the Middle East: A speaker of the upper house of the Russian Parliament, Valentina Matviyenko, said on Tuesday to TASS: “If there is an official request by the government of Iraq to the Russian Federation then we will assess the political and military possibilities, should our air force engage in such an operation. However, such a request has yet to be made.”
This kind of formulation is the same as was used by the Russians in Syria. They since emphasize that the military operation is being conducted on the grounds of a formal request by the legitimately elected Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad.
Russian parliament just a few days ago enabled Putin to use the Russian armed forces. Before that the Russians were skillfully forming an alliance in the Middle East consisting of Iran, China and Iraq. Bagdad is currently the place where the coordination of the secret services takes place. US-president Barrack Obama is being constantly informed about the operation in Syria. Israel is also being included in the information process.
France is explicitly supporting the Russian fight against all terrorists. If this support is also extendable to an operation in northern Iraq is yet to be revealed in the coming days.
Especially Turkey will be bothered by air strikes against terrorists in northern Iraq: President Recep Tyyip Erdogan has for months been conducting war against the PKK in a violation of international law. The Turkish air force is conducting attacks against positions that can not be fully identified as to which party they belong. Additionally Turkey and the US are cooperating with the al-Nusra Front, a sub-group of al-Qaeda. Russia announced that its attacks would not only be targeting IS but all terrorist groups.
The operations against IS are becoming more and more a fiasco for NATO: The Russians weeks ago declared they would now be forced to intervene since the US-led coalition has failed.
The US-Americans do in fact have nothing to show for: CNN reported full of pride that the Pentagon has convinced Barack Obama to arm some mercenaries and terrorists so that they can march towards Raqqa to defeat IS. If Putin continues his operations with the speed of last week and if the successes that his military announces are for real, then the US-sponsored mercenaries will need to hurry to get to Raqqa in time for the Russian victory parade.