Jeffrey: US anti-ISIS operations in Iraq ‘on pause’
WASHINGTON – James Jeffrey, the US special envoy to the anti-Islamic State (ISIS) coalition, told a briefing in Washington on Thursday that US military operations in Iraq are “on pause” while personnel focus on “force protection”.
No formal talks have been held with the Iraqi government since the recent non-binding Iraqi parliament resolution to expel foreign forces from the country, which Sunni and Kurdish MPs opposed.
“Coalition operations have been primarily on pause in Iraq as we focus on force protection,” Jeffrey told the briefing.
“There is of course a dialogue between our people in the coalition and the Iraqi forces, and we exchange information at various levels but again … the operations are primarily on pause.”
Jeffrey reminded reporters that Kurds did not vote for the expulsion of US troops in Iraq.
Responding to a question from Rudaw’s reporter, Jeffrey said: “The risk of the resurgence of ISIS is a very big problem, as I said. We have emphasized that ever since the physical caliphate was defeated along the Euphrates in March of last year.
“We are very concerned about the number of forces there and how they coordinate among each other. The Iraqis are concerned about that. Our SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces] partners in northeast Syria are concerned about that. The Turks are concerned about that because they now have forces in the northeast. Everyone is looking into this and watching it closely,” he added.
Jeffrey was also asked what contribution the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has made to stabilize the situation in northeast Syria, where a US drawdown cleared the way for a Turkish offensive in October against Kurdish forces in the region.
“Now, in terms of northeast Syria, the Kurdistan Regional Government has been very supportive in a number of ways – of political outreach there, of our logistical support and such, as has the Government of Iraq,” Jeffrey said.
“The Government of Iraq is very supportive of what we’ve been doing in northeast Syria because they know that is keeping the Daesh (ISIS) forces in Syria from their throats, and that, of course, is where they came in 2014 to over-roll Mosul and much of the Euphrates and much of the Tigris Valley,” he said.
Responding to a Rudaw question regarding the future status of US troops in the Kurdistan Region, Jeffrey said the area has been a “safe zone” for US troops since 2014 when ISIS emerged.
“Certainly, Kurdistan has been a safe zone for us to operate in since 2014 and for that matter through my two tours in Iraq, because there is very little – there was very little Iraqi insurgency in Kurdistan in the period up to our military departure in 2011, and there is not a significant presence of these pro-Iranian Iraqi militias there, who we believe and we know have been responsible for shooting at our coalition forces. So therefore, our forces are, generally speaking, safer in that part of Iraq,” he said.
“Now, you, of course, know that the Iranians did fire several missiles into the Erbil airport area during their retaliation against us, and so our forces are not totally safe there either,” Jeffrey cautioned.
With reporting from Washington by Namo Abdulla
No formal talks have been held with the Iraqi government since the recent non-binding Iraqi parliament resolution to expel foreign forces from the country, which Sunni and Kurdish MPs opposed.
“Coalition operations have been primarily on pause in Iraq as we focus on force protection,” Jeffrey told the briefing.
“There is of course a dialogue between our people in the coalition and the Iraqi forces, and we exchange information at various levels but again … the operations are primarily on pause.”
Jeffrey reminded reporters that Kurds did not vote for the expulsion of US troops in Iraq.
Responding to a question from Rudaw’s reporter, Jeffrey said: “The risk of the resurgence of ISIS is a very big problem, as I said. We have emphasized that ever since the physical caliphate was defeated along the Euphrates in March of last year.
“We are very concerned about the number of forces there and how they coordinate among each other. The Iraqis are concerned about that. Our SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces] partners in northeast Syria are concerned about that. The Turks are concerned about that because they now have forces in the northeast. Everyone is looking into this and watching it closely,” he added.
Jeffrey was also asked what contribution the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has made to stabilize the situation in northeast Syria, where a US drawdown cleared the way for a Turkish offensive in October against Kurdish forces in the region.
“Now, in terms of northeast Syria, the Kurdistan Regional Government has been very supportive in a number of ways – of political outreach there, of our logistical support and such, as has the Government of Iraq,” Jeffrey said.
“The Government of Iraq is very supportive of what we’ve been doing in northeast Syria because they know that is keeping the Daesh (ISIS) forces in Syria from their throats, and that, of course, is where they came in 2014 to over-roll Mosul and much of the Euphrates and much of the Tigris Valley,” he said.
Responding to a Rudaw question regarding the future status of US troops in the Kurdistan Region, Jeffrey said the area has been a “safe zone” for US troops since 2014 when ISIS emerged.
“Certainly, Kurdistan has been a safe zone for us to operate in since 2014 and for that matter through my two tours in Iraq, because there is very little – there was very little Iraqi insurgency in Kurdistan in the period up to our military departure in 2011, and there is not a significant presence of these pro-Iranian Iraqi militias there, who we believe and we know have been responsible for shooting at our coalition forces. So therefore, our forces are, generally speaking, safer in that part of Iraq,” he said.
“Now, you, of course, know that the Iranians did fire several missiles into the Erbil airport area during their retaliation against us, and so our forces are not totally safe there either,” Jeffrey cautioned.
With reporting from Washington by Namo Abdulla