By MK Bhadrakumar
''A fantastic turn to the geopolitics of the Middle East is surfacing with the visit by the Iraqi Defence Minister leading a high-level military delegation, including the chief of the country’s air force, to Russia. The disclosure came in a remark in Baghdad — deliberate or unintentional — by an Iraqi legislator to Reuters. The Reuters reported that the Iraqi delegation is negotiating the purchase of Russian “early warning systems, radars and some other civil defence apparatuses.”
The irony couldn’t be deeper. The United States invaded Iraq to bring about a ‘regime change’ and introduce democracy and the empowered government in Baghdad promptly asked the US troops to vacate occupation and now turns to its old cold-war era ally Russia to resuscitate the sinews of military ties. Iraq is today a close friend of Iran. It is supportive of the regime of Bashar Al-Assad in Syria and is helping Damascus in many ways to counter the Western sanctions against Syria. But its ties with Turkey have plummeted and the relations with Saudi Arabia remain frosty.
Suffice to say, this is not the Iraq that the neocons in the US wanted to see ‘empowered’ as the beacon of the so-called ‘New Middle East.’ The only ‘net gain’ in geopolitical terms that Washington can claim today is that Iraq’s military capability has been rendered ineffective, which of course immensely works to Israel’s advantage in the overall strategic balance. ''
No comments:
Post a Comment