No U.S. Drone War In Iraq

DOD

U.S. Rules Out A New Drone War In Iraq -- John Hudson, The Cable/Foreign Policy

For weeks, Iraqi officials have been publicly floating the idea of using American drones to hit the increasingly lethal al-Qaeda-affiliated militants on their soil. But the ordinarily drone-friendly Obama administration is apparently in no mood to open up a new front in global campaign of unmanned attacks. An administration official tells The Cable that American drone strikes in Iraq are now off the table.

Though neither Iraqi nor U.S. officials will say who called off the drones, it's no secret who began discussing them in the first place. In an August 17 trip to Washington, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told reporters that Baghdad is seeking U.S. advisers, air surveillance or drone strikes to combat al-Qaeda's grip on the country. "We cannot fight these increasing terrorist" threats alone, he said. Speaking of drone strikes specifically, he said as long as they were used to "target al-Qaeda and their bases," without "collateral damage," Iraqis would welcome them.

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My Comment: Not surprised by this U.S. reluctance to get involved in Iraq's sectarian troubles .... after-all ... the U.S. learned what could happen when they "bought that t-shirt" when they invaded Iraq in 2003?

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Did The U.S. Provide Intelligence To Iraq That Helped Them Launch Chemical Attacks Against Iran During Their 1980-1988 War?

Then-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein (at right) behind an artillery piece during the Iraq-Iran war. (An undated photo from the 1980s.) Reuters/Landov

Exclusive: CIA Files Prove America Helped Saddam as He Gassed Iran -- Shane Harris and matthew M. Aid, Foreign Policy

The U.S. knew Hussein was launching some of the worst chemical attacks in history -- and still gave him a hand.

The U.S. government may be considering military action in response to chemical strikes near Damascus. But a generation ago, America's military and intelligence communities knew about and did nothing to stop a series of nerve gas attacks far more devastating than anything Syria has seen, Foreign Policy has learned.

In 1988, during the waning days of Iraq's war with Iran, the United States learned through satellite imagery that Iran was about to gain a major strategic advantage by exploiting a hole in Iraqi defenses. U.S. intelligence officials conveyed the location of the Iranian troops to Iraq, fully aware that Hussein's military would attack with chemical weapons, including sarin, a lethal nerve agent.

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More News On Reports That The U.S. Help Iraq With Chemical Attacks Against Iran During Their 1980-1988 War?

CIA 'helped Saddam Hussein carry out chemical weapons attack on Iran' in 1988 under Ronald Reagan -- Daily Mail
U.S. Gave Iraq Intel, Ignored Chemical Attacks In 1980s, Report Says -- Huffington Post/AFP
New Docs Detail U.S. Involvement in Saddam's Nerve Gas Attacks -- Atlantic Wire
CIA Files Show U.S. Played Role in Iraq’s Chemical Attacks on Iran -- New York Magazine
New Details On How U.S. 'Helped Saddam As He Gassed Iran' -- NPR
How the U.S. helped Saddam Hussein use chemical weapons against Iran -- Harold Maass, The Week
What Complicity in Iraq's Chemical-Weapons Use Says About America -- Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic

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U.S. And Iraq To Cooperate In Stemming Al Qaeda Attacks

U.S. And Iraq To Boost Cooperation On Spillover From Syria -- Reuters

* Sale of $2.6 billion air-defense system to help Iraq control skies
* Washington urges political outreach to Iraq's Sunnis

WASHINGTON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - The United States and Iraq agreed on Thursday to boost cooperation to keep Iran from flying weapons over Iraq to Syria, and to curb the radicalization of young Iraqis and other spillover effects from the Syrian conflict.

U.S. help for Iraq will include intelligence- and information-sharing in the short term, followed by a planned sale of a $2.6 billion integrated air defense system and F-16 fighter jets, a senior U.S. official said.

The agreement came during talks in Washington led by Secretary of State John Kerry and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, which took place amid a period of escalating bloodshed that has taken the monthly death toll in Iraq to its highest levels in five years.

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More News On U.S. And Iraq Agreeing To Cooperate In Stemming Al Qaeda Attacks

Syrian War Fueling Attacks by Al Qaeda in Iraq, Officials Say -- New York Times
US warns of rising threat from al-Qaida in Iraq. -- Stars and Stripes
US Warns of Rising Threat From Al-Qaeda in Iraq -- Antiwar.com
Kerry: Iraq must stop weapons flow to Syria -- AP
Kerry warns of potential instability in Iraq -- Khaleej Times
Facing rising violence, Iraq seeks aid from a White House focused on other crises. -- CTV/AP

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