Ghasem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian regime’s terrorist Quds Force has emerged is the chief tactician in Iraq’s fight against Sunni militants, working on the front lines alongside IRGC advisers, Iraqi government officials say.
A report by The Associated Press says “startlingly hands-on role of Iranian Gen. Ghasem Soleimani” which makes him “the effective Iranian command of Iraq’s defense” points to the extent that the Iraqi government of Nouri al-Maliki’s reliance on the Iranian regime.
Soleimani is a frequent visitor to multiple battlezones in Iraq, the report added.
The IRGC advisers with Soleimani along with members of Lebanon’s ezbollah are also helping groups affiliated with the Iranian regime.
“We surely need these advisers,” said Wahab al-Taei, a senior commander of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, one of several Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq. “They have the expertise we lack in urban guerrilla warfare.”
Besides the adviser team, Iranian drones are flying near daily reconnaissance flights and Iranian weapons have been pouring into Iraq in large quantities, the report said.
A recent U.S. military assessment of Iraq’s security forces concludes that Iraqi forces loyal to Nuri Kal-Maliki “are now heavily dependent on Shiite militias — many of which were trained in Iran — as well as on advisers from Iran’s paramilitary Quds Force,” The New York Times reported on Saturday.
According to The Times the confidential report says that “many units are so deeply infiltrated by either Sunni extremist informants or Shiite personnel backed by Iran that any Americans assigned to advise Baghdad’s forces could face risks to their safety, according to United States officials.”
“The report concludes that only about half of Iraq’s operational units are capable enough for American commandos to advise them if the White House decides to help roll back the advances made by Sunni militants in northern and western Iraq over the past month.
“Adding to the administration’s dilemma is the assessment’s conclusion that Iraqi forces loyal to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki are now heavily dependent on Shiite militias — many of which were trained in Iran — as well as on advisers from Iran’s paramilitary Quds Force.”
