US Agrees to Comply With New Iraq Directive on Military Flights
PM insists 'unauthorized' flights must stop
Jason Ditz
The US-led coalition has issued a statement confirming that they intend to comply with new demands from Iraqi PM Adel Abdul-Mahdi regarding the use of Iraqi airspace for US warplanes.
Abdul-Mahdi called for an end to all “unauthorized flights,” whether US drones, spy planes, jets, or helicopters, and insisted that planes that do operate in Iraqi airspace must comply with Iraqi law and under Iraqi government direction.
That is a surprisingly tall order for Iraq to make toward the US, though with parliament’s increasing annoyance at the US remaining in Iraq at all, and the US hostility toward Iran just adding to the tensions, the premier may have felt he needed to do something to bring them more under control.
The Pentagon’s statement suggested this isn’t a problem, but US political officials may not feel the same way, as they’ve clearly been trying to pressure Iraq into cutting ties with Iran, and have been looking to escalate in the region to that end.
Abdul-Mahdi called for an end to all “unauthorized flights,” whether US drones, spy planes, jets, or helicopters, and insisted that planes that do operate in Iraqi airspace must comply with Iraqi law and under Iraqi government direction.
That is a surprisingly tall order for Iraq to make toward the US, though with parliament’s increasing annoyance at the US remaining in Iraq at all, and the US hostility toward Iran just adding to the tensions, the premier may have felt he needed to do something to bring them more under control.
The Pentagon’s statement suggested this isn’t a problem, but US political officials may not feel the same way, as they’ve clearly been trying to pressure Iraq into cutting ties with Iran, and have been looking to escalate in the region to that end.
posted by Satish Sharma at
11:29
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