1 August 2014
Valerie Amos, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, warned that attacks on civilians by all parties to the conflict and human rights abuses continue ‘in flagrant violation of the most basic principles of … international law’. (more…)
19 June 2014
In a statement issued on 17 June, the Shi’ite-led government of Iraq accused Saudi Arabia of promoting ‘genocide’ in Iraq by assisting Sunni militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The statement said that ‘we hold them responsible for supporting these groups financially and morally, and for the outcome of that – which includes crimes that may qualify as genocide: the spilling of Iraqi blood, the destruction of Iraqi state institutions and historic and religious sites’.
Reuters reports that Saudi Arabia finances and supplies Sunni rebels in Syria, but that it denies assisting ISIL.
Source: Reuters | Baghdad blames Saudi Arabia for promoting 'genocide' in Iraq
13 June 2014
On 12 June, the United States President Barack Obama pledged military support to Iraq, possibly including air strikes, in order to halt militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who want to set up their own state in Iraq and Syria. Nevertheless, Washington said that the primary responsibility for security in Iraq rests with the Iraqi government and criticised Baghdad for the failure to secure national assistance with more inclusive policies. (more…)
Source: Reuters | Exclusive: Alarmed by Iraq, Iran open to shared role with U.S. - Iran official
Source: The Guardian | Obama pledges US support to Iraq as Isis militants approach Baghdad
Source: The New York Times | Russia Sees American ‘Adventurism’ in Iraq Behind Current Conflict
Source: The Guardian | Security collapse in Iraqi city of Mosul is not solely Maliki's responsibility
6 January 2014
The United States has sent dozens of Hellfire missiles and low-tech surveillance drones to Iraq to help government forces combat an violence by an Al-Qaeda-backed insurgency that is gaining territory in both western Iraq and Syria. The assistance was requested by the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. The New York Times reports that American intelligence and counterterrorism officials say they have effectively mapped the locations and origins of the Al-Qaeda network in Iraq and are sharing this information with the Iraqis.
The Iraqi military has a very limited ability to locate and quickly strike Al-Qaeda militants. The combination of American-supplied Hellfire air-to-ground missiles, tactical drones and intelligence, supplied by the United States, is intended to augment that limited Iraqi ability.
Source: The New York Times | U.S. Sends Arms to Aid Iraq Fight With Extremists
28 August 2013
Foreign Policy reported on recently declassified CIA files that reveal that the United States provided assistance to Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war despite having knowledge of chemical weapons use by Saddam Hussein’s military.
According to the report, the CIA documents and former US intelligence officials confirm that the US had firm evidence of chemical weapons attacks beginning in 1983, but the Reagan administration nevertheless continued to provide assistance, including satellite imagery, to Iraq. Previous reports had indicated that the US had suspected the use of chemical weapons, but the declassified documents reveal that US officials were regularly informed on the scale of nerve gas attacks, which according to the FP report, amounts to American complicity in Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons attacks.
The US has denied acquiescing to Iraq’s chemical weapons attacks, and the CIA declined to comment for the FP report.
Source: Foreign Policy | Exclusive: CIA Files Prove America Helped Saddam as He Gassed Iran