World War “O” : Strike Syria and Ignite Iraq
This incisive article was first published two years ago in September
2013. It focuses on the process leading up to Obama’s air campaign
allegedly against ISIS initiated in September 2014. The title reveals
what is now an ongoing process of destroying both Iraq and Syria as
nation states.
* * *
If the Obama Administration orders the US military to attack
Syria, Iraq will burst into flames overnight. Several Iraqi groups have
declared that they would attack US interests inside Iraq and elsewhere
in the Middle East in retaliation.
Violence in Iraq has intensified as a result of the US-led covert war
on Syria. This has made the Iraqi government very eager to see an end
to the fighting in the neighboring country. When it comes to its
position on the Syrian conflict, Iraq is in the same camp as Russia,
Iran, and China. Baghdad firmly supports Russian, Iranian, and Chinese
calls for a negotiated settlement, and is opposed to any ideas of a US
attack on Syria.
The Militia Factor
A US strike on Syria will not only see Syrian retaliation. There will
be a regional response against a US attack that will include Iraq.
While Mohammed Javad Zarif, the foreign minister of Iran [image
below], has denied that Tehran will target American interest in Iraq, he
has warned that a US attack on Syria will not be able to contain the
violent consequences.
Iran may not intervene directly inside Iraq to attack the interests
of the US, as Foreign Minister Zarif emphasized during a press
conference in Baghdad he held with his Iraqi counterpart, but this does
not mean that the Iraqi groups allied to Iran will not attack US
interests inside Iraq.
