As chaos and violence consume Iraq, US keeps focus on deterring Iran
The Trump administration’s realism is well suited to the crisis in Iraq, with a clear red line on keeping out Iranian missiles.
In Iraqi councils about the next prime minister, Iran is in the room and the United States is not even in the building.
“We have a policy of not meddling in government formation,” a senior State Department official said this week.
The Donald Trump administration’s realism is actually well suited to the crisis. Recent waves of protests against both Iraq’s ruling class and heavy-handed Iranian influence have led to more than 400 killed, with thousands more injured and arrested. Today there were reports of excessive violence and executions by armed groups in Baghdad. Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s resignation Nov. 30 is hardly the final chapter. Things seem to be getting worse, not better; the Iraqi state itself is buckling. The US can't do much to affect political change, but it can keep the focus on deterring Iran from expanding its military presence in Iraq so that it does not threaten US allies and interests in the region, and accelerate a further breakdown of fragile Iraqi institutions.
