He also points out how US air strikes were important in helping Iranian controlled militias relieve the besieged city of Amerli in Iraq earlier this month. He says it was their intervention that forced Iraq’s prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, to resign and make way for a more inclusive government this week.
But the US can't say so publicly.Īs recently as Thursday, Kerry said "the United States does not cooperate, militarily or otherwise, nor does it have any intention of doing so, with Iran."Īt the very least, says Cockburn, Iran and the US, “are pursuing parallel courses, often with the same objectives, but they dare not publicly declare this.”Ĭockburn says the Iranians are doing the most of anyone to prop up Iraq. The United States does have one unofficial partner in the region, and that’s Iran. So far, Turkey has not agreed to the United States using Incirlik for the war against the Islamic State.Ĭockburn says one reason for Turkish reluctance is that the Turks are worried about 49 Turkish diplomats and other Turkish citizens who were taken hostage when ISIS captured the Iraqi city of Mosul in June.
Turkey is also home to the key US airbase at Incirlik, which would be useful for air operations in Iraq and Syria. But it’s not clear how far the Turks will now go to tighten the border. “Tight Turkish control of that border would be a major asset in combatting jihadis trying to reach Syria and Iraq,” Cockburn says. He says the border is known among journalists on the ground as the "jihadis’ Highway:" “Almost all the foreign fighters that one hears so much about, have gone through Turkey over the last two years.”
“The United States needs Turkey primarily because of the Turkish border with Syria,” says Patrick Cockburn, Middle East correspondent for the British newspaper, The Independent, and author of " Jihadis Return: ISIS and the new Sunni Uprising." European partners are balking at striking Islamic state targets inside Syria. What's also unclear is what other Western nations are willing do support concerning ISIS.
US Secretary of State John Kerry was in Turkey Friday to try to overcome that nation's reluctance to help in the fight against ISIS. On Thursday, Kerry says he has received support from 10 Arab nations, but it's not clear how far they're willing to go.
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