Exclusive Interview: Nouri al Maliki on US-Turkish Involvement in Iraq

 Nahed Al Husaini VT Damascus Bureau (Exclusive interview with former Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki

VT Damascus Bureau Chief, Nahed al Husaini interviewed Nouri al Maliki Sunday.  These are key excerpts from a ranging two hour discussion.  Maliki is known to be critical of US actions in Iraq, certainly has the guts to stand up to Turkey and is likely to be Iraq’s next prime minister.

VT:  Obama’s efforts in Iraq have fallen under criticism at home and in Iraq.  There is considerable distrust for America, particularly after Turkey’s incursion. How do you see this playing out?

Maliki: The US has been blocking Iraq’s efforts to take Ramadi.  There is a reason for this, the US plans to keep Anbar as a buffer region, totally under US control.

VT:  Who is backing this US stance in Iraq?

Maliki:  Certainly the Kurds are but the US also has strong support from the Saudi backed Islamic Party as well.  These are groups that were willing, early on, to accept a breakup of Iraq and now seem to be aligning themselves in that direction again.

VT:  What do you think about current Turkish moves against Iraq?

Maliki:  I believe the Turkish base in Mosul, supported by US Special Forces, aims to cut communications likes between Iran, Iraq Syria and Lebanon.  Kirkuk’s oil will fall under Turkish control through the Kurds, one of the world’s largest oil fields, perhaps the real financial goal of the combined US and Turkish move into Iraq. A key concern is the historically unreliable Kurdish leadership that is continually running to Erdogan like lapdogs.

Background

European security sources told VT that the military operations in Syria will witness a dramatic shift as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have taken a step forward towards direct involvement in the embattlement. The Iranians will be engaged in urban combat, armed with untraditional weapons including Surface-to-air Missiles, drones, artillery, and heavy weapons.

In discussions over the last two days with former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, it was learned that the Baghdad government is deeply upset with America’s continued support of Turkish intentions and is suspicious of American complicity in support of ISIS operations.

DESI also disclosed that Iran arrested a US-backed spy ring, according to Iranian Intel data.  The network mission was to create “havoc” in order to topple the Iranian regime. This is not the first time US employs local sleeper cells to destabilize the Iranian regime.

In a related context, Bou Said of DESI revealed that the US backed coalition is preparing to send a (100,000) man force to Iraq, the bulk of it will be from the Gulf States, while the remaining (10,000)  are US, despite protests by the Baghdad government.

The force will be deployed in Anbar in accordance with the US military protocols already signed with some parties of the Iraqi government who are secretly working with Turkey and the Kurds.   Its task is unspecified thus far but it is strongly believed that ultimate goal of the troop deployment is to strike the Iraqi popular militia similar to the Yemeni scenario.

DESI Concluded that the plan for the region has entered its second phase through division, where economic interests, specifically oil and water are top priority, and Israel will be premier beneficiary to ensure its existence.

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Nahed is VT Damascus Bureau Chief. She is a member of the American Institute for Middle East Strategic Studies (USA) and serves as Assistant Director of Arab-American and Muslim Congress (Detroit, USA). She has a Diploma in English Literature from Damascus University (1987).

She’s also been a reporter for Turkish newspaper Aydinlik, Special Coordinator for Arab-Armenian International Law Assembly, Correspondent for Qatari News Agency, Al Ayam news Paper in Bahrain, Al Liwaa in Lebanon, Correspondent for Petra News Agency in Jordan, correspondent for the Associated Press in USA, and worked as a freelance journalist for CBS, ABS and CNN in Syria. She is fluent in both English and Arabic.