© REUTERS / Stringer
The US-led coalition is not interested in eradicating Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) because the group's existence can be used by the US to justify their military buildup in the Middle East, General Dia al-Wakil, an Iraqi military strategic analyst, told Sputnik Arabic.
"I do not believe that the international coalition wants to bring an end to terrorism in the region," he said. "Under the cover of the 'fight against terrorism,' US [military] forces can remain and strengthen here. Behind this are economic goals. Americans need oil and arms sales contracts. It is necessary for the American welfare."
The general expressed concerns that the terrorists could be transferred to Iraq under the US' "supervision." According to al-Wakil, Daesh is a "handy tool" that can be used "multiple times" by its backers.
"When necessary, personnel is simply transferred to a given point," the military analyst said. "We have already seen how terrorists moved throughout the region before the international coalition's very eyes. The last time was in July 2018, when 1,500 militants left Yarmouk, a suburb of Damascus, and moved to al-Suwayda province in southern Syria. They took only light weapons with them."
He stressed that there had been cases when terrorists traveled from Syria to Iraq, Sinai or Afghanistan.
"Therefore, one can say that Daesh remains a prominent force in the region and the world," al-Wakil highlighted. "This organization has not been destroyed, but will still be used in political struggles, especially amid instability in the Middle East."
According to the general, it will only be possible to talk about the efficiency of the US struggle with terrorism when the groups' websites, which broadcast extremist ideas all over the world, are shut down. He emphasized that the servers used by terrorists to promote their ideologies are all located in the US and Europe, and are still operating.
Under these conditions, Baghdad should react wisely and pursue national policies which serve Iraq's sovereign interests, al-Wakil believes. He emphasized that it was important to do whatever it takes to prevent the terrorists from fleeing into the country.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi Army is boosting control of the country's border with Syria to bring the jihadists' attempts to get into Iraq or smuggle weapons to a halt.
"The presence [of the Iraqi forces] at the border posts and vantage points as well as construction and the patrol of earthen parapets, fortifications and fences have been enhanced on the Iraqi-Syrian border," the Iraqi security forces said in an official statement on October 11.
Additionally, Baghdad has bolstered reconnaissance work from the town of Qaim to the village of Tal Safuk to ensure the security of the border region.
Earlier, in August, the Iraqi Air Forces carried out air raids against Daesh on the territory of Syria. The operation was coordinated with the Syrian government.
The Syrian civil war erupted in 2011 quickly turning into a large-scale standoff involving state and non-state actors including various terrorist groups. Daesh terrorists became the focus of worldwide attention in 2014 when they seized a number of key strategic regions in Western Iraq and took Mosul and Sinjar under control. Simultaneously, the terrorist organization attacked Syrian government and opposition forces capturing large area in eastern Syria by December 2015.
Russia's involvement into the war in September 2015 became a game changer paving the way for the eradication of the terrorist organization in the Arab Republic. According to a UN report released in August 2018, between 20,000 and 30,000 Daesh fighters remain across Syria and Iraq despite heavy losses and resounding defeats in late 2017.
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