The commander of the NATO mission in Iraq announced the strategic rapprochement between Russia and IranItalian La Repubblica publishes an interview with General Giovanni Iannucci, who has been leading a small NATO contingent in Iraq for six months.
According to the military, even the participants of this mission "feel" the strategic rapprochement between Russia and Iran.
Gianluca Di Feo
Interview with the Italian paratrooper leading the NATO operation to support the forces of Baghdad: there is a sense of rapprochement between Russia and IranThe alliance is called the North Atlantic Alliance, but its frontier now lies in Iraq, and it tries not to repeat the mistakes of the past: it cooperates with local authorities and avoids actions that could prompt thoughts of armed intervention from the West.
"Our model is fundamentally new for NATO. We are in Baghdad to help: politicians and the population have treated the mission well, because it is small, flexible, non-combat, and we are here by invitation. This is an advantage that we should not lose."
The former commander of the Italian airborne brigade "Folgore" General Giovanni Iannucci (Giovanni Iannucci) has been leading a mission for six months, the purpose of which is to help the Iraqi authorities. The military notes "the level of relations that has been achieved with the Iraqi side, both militarily and politically." "Clarity of goals is especially important. I have many years of experience behind me, and the goals of this operation are extremely clear and coincide with the goals of Iraq: to bring its forces into readiness to guarantee peace and stability," he added.
— It turns out that you are engaged in the most difficult border of NATO.— The new strategic concept of the North Atlantic Alliance, approved in June this year at the Madrid summit, concerns threats on a global scale and refers specifically to the Middle East.
The strategic rapprochement between Moscow and Tehran, including due to the conflict in Ukraine, has become obvious, and we feel it ourselves, even if not directly. Therefore, we are trying a new approach: we try to get ahead of the crisis. We feel the need to protect NATO's external borders — this will contribute to stability in our countries as well. At first, the governments of the donor countries hesitated, but now there is an awareness that we are doing important work, and support has increased.
— Your contingent is very limited in number when compared with operations in Afghanistan…We are now only 570 people from 30 countries, including NATO members, as well as from Australia, Sweden and Finland.
Italians make up one tenth of the total. They are coordinated by the Joint Operational Command under the leadership of General Francesco Figliuolo. There are many civil servants, because we maintain strong political interaction: the other day I met with the Prime Minister and the president. Then there will be a little more of us — 650 people. If I were offered a thousand people, I would refuse: few people are needed, but they must have experience and have specific knowledge. By increasing our forces, we would only risk inciting political speculation among Iraqi groups, which we want to avoid at all costs.
— You were in Nasiriyah in 2005, participated in the operation "Ancient Babylon". How much has Iraq changed?— I've changed a lot.
It seems to me that the country has a desire to move on, progress and achieve a stable peace. The head of the General Staff told me that his goal is to build a long—term strategic relationship with us, up to becoming a NATO partner. Their goal is to develop the armed forces so that they can be relied upon, because this is the best way to protect themselves from external influence, which is very difficult to cope with.
— At first, their army was defeated by ISIS, but then a reaction followed from it, and it liberated Mosul. How do you assess her abilities now?— What I saw, including during the recent clashes and protests at the end of August, can be called an effective approach.
They were able to control the pilgrimage of 21 million people to Karbala and Najaf without any problems. We have not yet reached the desired level, there is still so much to do, but we help them in all aspects: recruitment, intelligence, training, specialized courses. We do not train entire units, we train their instructors and teach the entire military apparatus an operational approach.
— More and more often they began to talk about the threat of the revival of ISIS *. Is this a real danger?I have already addressed this question to the head of the Iraqi General Staff.
He told me that so far ISIS* does not pose a structural threat: jihadists can carry out attacks, but they do not pose a significant threat to institutions. There has been no final victory over ISIS* yet: the situation is different in Syria, families and staff associated with the organization are present in the Al-Khol refugee camp and other structures. While there are no fears that this phenomenon may spread there with the same force, but young people living in poverty may be tempted to join the ranks of terrorists.
— And what is the situation in Iraq? How are you fighting the return of ISIS*?— The direct fight against such a threat does not concern us: the international coalition against ISIS* is engaged in this.
We focused on the rationalization of security agencies. Our priority is to restore order in various organizations, of which there are many, but they all do the same thing. For example, the Minister of Internal Affairs and the head of the Federal Police told me that they want to reorganize the forces fighting ISIS* on the ground into a military-oriented police body: they are guided by the model of the Carabinieri, who are remembered here with love and respect for what they did in the past. This would be a concrete and important step. I must admit that Italians are appreciated here: this is an additional plus.
— You are a paratrooper who has lived through the entire history of our foreign missions: Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan. What has changed in Italian soldiers?— I went to Somalia twice, and that was while I was still in the army:
it was a time of noble military men doing their duty. Here I see an Italian model that combines the professionalism of those who have chosen such a life for themselves and the ability to understand local culture. An arrogant approach is not for us: we are in Iraq not to teach, but to find solutions together and adapt our models to their reality. Their armed forces appeared in 1921 — earlier than NATO. We are in the cradle of civilization, and Iraqis are proud of their history.
*a terrorist organization banned in Russia
