Tinderbox: Israeli military attacks in Iraq could complicate US strategy in Middle East
Washington may need to draw some red lines to protect its larger regional interests.
Twice in the last month, Israeli F-35s have bombed Iraq, according to reliable media reports, signaling a potential widening of Israel’s military campaign against Iranian targets.
If so, the Trump administration has a problem on its hands.
While Washington has backed Israeli attacks on Iranian targets in war-torn Syria, Iraq is a US ally. That’s a distinction that matters. Baghdad wants no part of a confrontation with Iran, its neighbor, given Tehran’s capacity for disruption in Iraq. But if Washington’s closest ally in the region is waging a proxy war against Iran in Iraqi territory, that puts Iraq’s stability at risk.
US, Israeli pressure may be working on Iran in Syria …
