President Barack Obama had derided American military involvement in Iraq under his predecessor, President George W. Bush, as a “stupid war”, and in 2011 chose the first opportunity to pull out from that theatre. But America’s duties as the putative holder of the whip hand in West Asia’s political and military affairs have impelled the US leader to return to Iraq with US planes bombarding Islamist positions around the northern city of Erbil, which has been the centre of US oil interests and the major camp of American business in that war-torn country, aside from hosting a US consulate.
The official reason given out by Washington portrayed the F-18 and drone attacks — which commenced Friday afternoon, local time — as a humanitarian mission to protect the Christian and Yazidi minorities. So, food and air packets have also been dropped for good measure. But this is a side-show at best. If Erbil falls to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (now just being called the Islamic State) fighters, US political interests with the Kurds will be under severe stress, and Turkey, a key Nato ally, not too far up north, could also be in some danger.
In Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, the Shias, who form the largest segment of the country’s population, do not appear too enthused with the American bombardment. They say it came only when the US feared its own interests in the northern part of the country may capsize, and not when Iraq needed foreign military help to check the advance of the ISIS military machine.
Going further, leading sections of the Shias have said they can only depend on trusted allies like Iran and Russia. This can hardly be music to Washington’s ears. There is another fear being voiced in Washington — that Russian President Vladimir Putin could use the US precedent of militarily intervening in Iraq to justify a potential Russian military intervention in Ukraine, right across the border from Russia.
It is too early to say if America will be drawn into Iraq once again, willy nilly. It is also early to say if the sudden US military re-entry will actually be able to check the advance of the jihadist forces which have been on a rampage for months. The supine US policy in respect of Syria, many believe, encouraged the ISIS to begin with, and now the moment of reckoning has arrived.
On this big frame is also being played out an important game for Indians trapped in northern Iraq, where the US planes have begun bombing. India’s rescue negotiations to get them out, it is feared, are likely to suffer a setback.
