Can Iraq meet US, Russia halfway?

As the Russian raids started Sept. 30 in Syria, Iraqi MPs demanded that Abadi officially call on Russia to carry out airstrikes in Iraq as well. However, the United States issued an ultimatum Oct. 20 that Iraq must choose between support from the United States or Russia.

Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi had visited Moscow on Aug. 31 to reach security agreements and sign arms deals with Russia to restructure the Iraqi army. Russia indeed expressed during the meeting its readiness to provide new weapons to Iraq, including bombers.

Although some political parties and citizens have demanded that Iraq's military and security cooperation with Russia be extended to the point of becoming an alliance, it is not easy for the Iraqi government to make such a decision. There is no internal agreement between the political partners, and Iraq also is cautious about falling into the ongoing polarization and conflicts in the region and subsequently losing US support if Iraq further allies with the Russians.

In terms of internal reactions, the Sunni National Forces Union said Oct. 8 through MP Abdel Qaher al-Samarrai, “The new quartet alliance may confuse the political process and produce overlapping between major powers in the Iraqi arena and lead to tension between some countries in the region such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan toward this alliance.”

So far, Abadi seems to have resisted the pressure placed by Shiite forces and parties, such as the Popular Mobilization Units that announced Sept. 20 that “the Baghdad-Damascus-Tehran-Moscow alliance is a natural and legal right for Iraq.” These forces stressed the need for full participation in the Russian alliance and to speed up the official request that Russia take part in attacks on IS in Iraq.