Iraq, Siding With Iran, Sends Essential Aid To Syria's Assad

The Washington Post:

More than six months after the start of the Syrian uprising, Iraq is offering key moral and financial support to the country's embattled president, undermining a central U.S. policy objective and raising fresh concerns that Iraq is drifting further into the orbit of an American arch rival -- Iran.

Read the whole story: The Washington Post

Comments

[piul05]

08:37 AM on 10/10/2011

You couldn't make this up - and the "experts" are paid handsomely to come up with these brilliant geopolitical strategies."Let's invade Iraq", says one; "Let's increase the number of troops in Afghanistan", says the other; "Let's use our permission for a humanitarian mission in Libya, and turn it into a full-blown intervention" (yet to backfire...), says yet another one.

Did they get their qualifications through a correspondence course?

[Boomer946]

08:27 AM on 10/10/2011

So let me see if I have this right. We, the USA, have spent almost 1 trillion dollars over 10 years defeating Sadam, setting up Iraq as a democracy, and now the Iraqi's are sending money to Syria to help their dictator keep his boot on the necks of his citizens? President Obama do you see whats wrong with this picture? It is time to cut Iraq loose and bring our troops home. We wasted our money and, more importantly, over 4000 American lives in this vain attempt to combat the threat from Arab extremism.

[thegreenhornet]

07:16 AM on 10/10/2011

Gosh. Who'd have thought. Iraq was at war with Iran as long as we supplied Saddam Hussein, our ally, with the weapons to fight. this is the product of supporting tyrants because they serve our short term goals. We have reduced it to an art form and have done it sine the end of WWII. If Obama really wants to bring change we can believe in he can start there.

[BestGuest]

07:05 AM on 10/10/2011

No matter how lousy the regime there is, |r@n is not the real monster.....

"One aim of the American invasion here was to establish a moderate center of Shiite Islam, democratically inclined and oriented to the West, that would be a counterbalance to Iran’s system of clerical rule."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/world/middleeast/if-united-states-leaves-vacuum-in-iraq-disliked-iran-may-not-fill-it.html

[fairwayhill]

07:02 AM on 10/10/2011

So called "Israel" is stolen Palestine.

[hidenout3]

08:02 AM on 10/10/2011

Won in battle, fair and square.

[joeinvt]

08:53 AM on 10/10/2011

So called "Palestine" is (part of) the Ottoman Empire."

[bridgeman]

06:59 AM on 10/10/2011

Check the packaging/origin of the "essential aid"...it may read "Made in the USA"

[jmchambers63]

06:20 AM on 10/10/2011

The need for aid around the world is enormous without question. However, it seems to me, before Iraq spends a dime on anything other than its own infrastrure would it be impolotic to pay America back for the billions of dollars this country spent to liberate thier citizenry? I seem to remember a promise of oil revenue as payment for war expenses - i could be mistaken - but i certainly find it offensive and unappreciative of the short memory of the Iraqi people.

[MRb1000]

04:38 AM on 10/10/2011

Yeah call the US dollar!

[Ronju01]

04:04 AM on 10/10/2011

Except supporting Israel Saddam was on US side in every other places.

[Ronju01]

04:01 AM on 10/10/2011

Repubs want us to forget Bush's misadventure in Iraq.

[Wisconsin Patriots Unite]

02:00 AM on 10/10/2011

But Barr-E said there'd be no problem in reducing our troop levels so much faster than his generals on the ground advised. On the upside, with all his vast military and executive training and experience...

Oh, right... we're totally screvved.

[jmchambers63]

06:22 AM on 10/10/2011

Well said.

[plaidsportcoat]

01:43 AM on 10/10/2011

Saddam would not have done that. Thanks to Bush and Cheney, Iraq now sides with Iran on stuff. Great job, fellas. You keeping your Syrian Christians safe at the expense of Iraqi Christians?

[Ronju01]

04:07 AM on 10/10/2011

Iraqi Christians were most safe under Saddam; his VP was a Christians.

[RudyHaugeneder]

01:19 AM on 10/10/2011

America used some obscenely murderous military tactics when it successfully invaded Iraq, killing tens of thousands of Iraqi military by using weapons that are internationally forbidden. This has not been forgotten by Iraq's population and leaders whose resentment is now bubbling to the surface and which applies an old saying: "My enemy's enemy is my friend."
Sad, but true.

[jmchambers63]

06:29 AM on 10/10/2011

i dont remember the Iraqi people complaining about being liberated from the tyrant who killed hundreds of thousands of his own citizens. And the quote is of Arabic origin, "The enemy of my friend is my enemy."

[BestGuest]

07:07 AM on 10/10/2011

errr.... they like it better when the white-man does the killing??

[Tibby Oct31]

11:45 PM on 10/09/2011

Can anyone keep up with who's truly siding with who?

I do know this: our influence in that part of the world (militant or not) is more messed up than ever.
We may want to step back and get our alliances straightened out, OR just stay out altogether.

[jmchambers63]

06:30 AM on 10/10/2011

I like your idea of staying out altogether.

[Observer111]

11:43 PM on 10/09/2011

Excellent news. Essential supplies are important for the population of Syria. Compare to US establishment (government) imposing embargo on Iraq in the 90s resulting in deaths of thousands of children. It seems US gov in in self imposed business of exporting democracy including drone variety. Meanwhile, economic issues in US are colossal and finally people are on the street...Occupy Wall Street. Perhaps Obama should refocus on domestic issues and cut back on democracy export nonsense