IMAGE: REUTERS / Muhammad Hamed
On February 24, former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told a local TV station that the administration of ex-US President Barack Obama had played a key role in the creation of ISIS and allowed the terrorist group to occupy Iraqi territories.
Maliki served as prime minister between 2006 and 2014. He said that the US had provided Iraq with intelligence and aerial images, locating with great precision positions of ISIS terrorists, who had lined up behind Iraqi borders in Syria.
According to the Iraqi politician, large groups of ISIS members were waiting to cross into Iraq after what they believed was going to be the impending downfall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Maliki added that back then his country had shortage of fighter jets capable of attacking ISIS positions and attack helicopters did not have the range to eliminate them.
In this situation, the Iraqi government asked the US for assistance and delivery of “one or two” fighter jets to the Iraqi Air Force under the 2008 security agreement between the two countries. However, Washington rejected this request.
Maliki continued by saying that the Iraqi Army’s 7th Division was sent to combat the terrorists without air support and even achieved some progress before being eliminated. Furthermore, the ex-prime minister pointed out that Washington had halted all supplies of helicopter parts and other military equipment to Iraq and stopped its obligations under a contract to sell F-16 attack aircraft to Iraq, which had paid for them in advance.
