But you can tell what they really think because they've tried so hard not to blame al-Maliki for the fall of Mosul. They've tried to blame the people of Mosul for this as well as me personally, by claiming that I didn't support the security forces in the city before June 10, 2014.
NIQASH: What will you do if the Iraqi government decides to do what they just did in Tikrit? Namely, get the Iraqi army and the Shiite Muslim militias involved in the battle for Ninawa.
Al-Nujaifi: The central government has given us a lot of assurances that the militias are not going to reach Ninawa. So I don't want to speculate any further on this question in case it causes bad feelings - because that won't help anybody. But I am sure of one thing: Everyone involved thinks its a bad idea to have Shiite militias involved in liberating Mosul.
NIQASH: You were asked to appear before the Parliamentary commission that is looking into why Mosul fell. You were there for seven hours. What happened? And would you say you were a defendant or were you a witness?
Al-Nujaifi: The committee didn't accuse anyone who was summoned of anything. Their job is to gather information, nothing more, nothing less.
I presented them with three main reasons for what happened in Mosul. Firstly, it was a direct result of the military operation by the IS group that lasted for three days and that led to federal police deliberately handing the city over to the IS group in an organized and gradual way, without any fighting.
Secondly there were indirect causes related to the way that the security forces treated the people in Mosul as well as widespread corruption in the security forces. And finally, it was because of al-Maliki's policies in Ninawa.
NIQASH: Do you feel any responsibility at all – even partial responsibility – for the fall of Mosul? After all, your bitter relationship with the Prime Minister, al-Maliki, meant there was a big power vacuum in Ninawa, which many would say was used by the IS group to take control of the city.
Comments are closed.