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In a February 28 interview with Baghdad TV, the Iraqi Christian leader claimed that "if not for the Iranian intervention, ISIS would have been in Baghdad by now."
Chaldean goes on to say that Iran responded almost immediately to Iraq's appeal for military aid and assistance, while Washington sat on its hands. At the end of the interview he says that he is "unwilling to visit Saudi Arabia...because Saudi Arabia is the cause of Iraq's destruction".
James Mattis, Defense Secretary of the world's biggest state sponsor of terrorism, recently accused Iran of being "the world's biggest state sponsor of terrorism".
Reader Comments
This involvement has given the Iranian military valuable training in warfare on the ground, (as if they needed it after fighting Iraq to a standstill) priceless training the Israelis have not had, their only training is against stone throwing juveniles, that's why they ran home with their tail between their legs from their last encounter in Lebanon, again up against REAL trained fighters who beat the crap out of them, and showed them just how good (NOT LOL ) their home made tanks were.
This is why they need the U.S. to fight their wars.
There is however, a serious lesson to be learned from this, not only for the Iraqis, but any other nation which thinks the Yanks are going to shed their own blood for others, even if they started the war in the first place.
I would like to see the Iraqis wake up to the fact that the Iranians are their best friends in the M.E. and they need to base all their defensive decision making with that in mind. They also need to divest themselves from relying upon American made military equipment, which can be stopped or withdrawn at a whim, leaving them vulnerable.