James Petras: Iraqi forces against US tutelage

Press TV has conducted an interview with James Petras, Middle East expert in New York, to discuss a meeting held in the French capital on the advances of the ISIL Takfiri terrorists in Iraq.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: How do you see this meeting being held in Paris?

Petras: I do not think this meeting will accomplish very much because it overlooks a number of threats in the Middle East that emanate from other groups beside ISIS. For example, Saudi Arabia is currently bombing Yemen, Israel is encroaching on the Palestinians, the US has a history of intervention in Iraq, in Syria, and threatens Iran, so I think there are multiple factors here that have led to this growth of ISIS, especially the support from Saudi Arabia, which provides military aid, finances the so-called volunteers.

I think the big problem in Iraq is the lack of motivation of the Iraqi army. If it was not for the Iranian-supported militias, I think Baghdad would have been taken by ISIS a long ago. The problem is this: Iraqi soldiers do not want to fight under the domination, the leadership, of the US. It has suffered over one million deaths and other casualties during the US invasion. No Iraqi soldier feels any loyalty to the [Haider] al-Abadi government, which is largely a product of US intervention in Iraq.

So unless the US withdraws from Iraq and plays a more passive role, the recruits for ISIS will increase. ISIS appeals to attempts by other groups to oppose the US. ISIS’s offensive has largely been based on thousands of US weapons that they have taken over as the Iraqi troops abandoned Mosul and other areas.

So I think while ISIS is a threat, the problem of fighting ISIS remains the presence of the US, which is seen by both the Iraqi population and the Iraqi army as their primary oppressor.

Press TV: If we were to look at the performance of this so-called US-led alliance, then how would you rate them? They were supposed to have gotten rid of these terrorists and at the same time provide ‘intelligence.’ Haider al-Abadi has said lack of intelligence is why so far they have been unable to truly defeat the ISIL terrorists?

Petras: Lack of intelligence is largely a function, it is not a technical question, it is a political question … secure intelligence depends in large part on securing the support and information from the vast majority of the population, which has been affected by the ISIS forces, and the fact that the US has not provided intelligence is because of their ambiguous role.

They support ISIS groups in Syria and supposedly oppose them in Iraq. That is a contradiction that has not been resolved. As long as the US continues to focus on overthrowing the Bashar al-Assad government and channels money and arms into the opposition, the US has absolutely no chance of providing any effective support in the anti-ISIS struggle in Iraq. So intelligence is subordinated to the political relationships that exist in that region.

Press TV: Do you not think that in some way ISIL terrorists have somewhat, through atroctieis they commit against all communities, brought both Sunni and Shia fighters together in the battle against terrorism?

Petras: ISIS has a very authoritarian organization that wants total control over all peoples and uses the Christians and the Shia as scapegoats for their own dictatorial reasons. I think the key issue here is the fact that the Iraqi soldiers that are supported by the Iranian government have been motivated, have been in the front lines of the struggle and have defeated ISIS in hand-to-hand combat. The question is this: Is the Iraqi army capable of intervening if they are under US supervision? And I answer the record up to now is no. I think what needs to be done is at the national level. The government has to free itself from US tutelage, otherwise there is no way in the world that the Iraqi soldiers are going to be committed to fighting and sacrificing their lives in order to serve under a US puppet government. That is never going to happen.

AHK/HSN

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