![\"petraeus\"](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/03\/petraeus.jpg\" "\\"petraeus\\"")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
General David Petraeus, who commanded U.S. troops in Iraq during the 2007-2008 surge said in an interview: \u201cThe current Iranian regime is not our ally in the Middle East. It is ultimately part of the problem, not the solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Petraeus, who was back in Iraq last week for the first time in more than three years, told the Washington Post: \u201cThe current Iranian regime is not our ally in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more the Iranians are seen to be dominating the region, the more it is going to inflame Sunni radicalism and fuel the rise of groups like the Islamic State. While the U.S. and Iran may have convergent interests in the defeat of Daesh, our interests generally diverge.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIranian power in the Middle East is thus a double problem. It is foremost problematic because it is deeply hostile to us and our friends. But it is also dangerous because, the more it is felt, the more it sets off reactions that are also harmful to our interests \u2014 Sunni radicalism and, if we aren’t careful, the prospect of nuclear proliferation as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus says the Islamic State is not the biggest threat facing the United States in Iraq.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact, I would argue that the foremost threat to Iraq\u2019s long-term stability and the broader regional equilibrium is not the Islamic State; rather, it is Shiite militias, many backed by \u2014 and some guided by \u2014 Iran,\u201d Petraeus said in written comments to The Washington Post\u2019s Beirut bureau chief.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat has happened in Iraq is a tragedy \u2014 for the Iraqi people, for the region and for the entire world. It is tragic foremost because it didn’t have to turn out this way,\u201d Petraeus said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hard-earned progress of the surge was sustained for over three years. What transpired after that, starting in late 2011, came about as a result of mistakes and misjudgments whose consequences were predictable.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked about widely distributed photographs of the Iranian military leader in Iraq recently, Petraeus said he has \u201cseveral thoughts when I see the pictures of him, but most of those thoughts probably aren\u2019t suitable for publication in a family newspaper like yours.\u201d<\/p>\n
Suleimani \u201chas played his hand well,\u201d Petraeus said. \u201cBut this is a long game, so let\u2019s see how events transpire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Petraeus also relayed an old story. In 2008 \u2014 the same year that the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad\u2019s Green Zone was shelled by Iranian-backed militias \u2014 Suleimani sent a message to Petraeus, the retired general said. It read: \u201cGeneral Petraeus, you should be aware that I, Qassem Soleimani, control Iran\u2019s policy for Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and Afghanistan.\u201d<\/p>\n
He replied, through a messenger, by telling Suleimani to \u201cpound sand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Petraeus blamed Nouri Al-Maliki for undoing alienating the Iraqi Sunnis that in his view opened the door to takeover of the Islamic State.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe proximate cause of Iraq\u2019s unraveling was the increasing authoritarian, sectarian and corrupt conduct of the Iraqi government and its leader after the departure of the last U.S. combat forces in 2011. The actions of the Iraqi prime minister undid the major accomplishment of the Surge. (They) alienated the Iraqi Sunnis and once again created in the Sunni areas fertile fields for the planting of the seeds of extremism, essentially opening the door to the takeover of the Islamic State. Some may contend that all of this was inevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tragedy is that political leaders failed so badly at delivering what Iraqis clearly wanted \u2014 and for that, a great deal of responsibility lies with Prime Minister Maliki.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the measures he offered in confronting the current crisis in Iraq he said: \u201cwe need to recognize that the #1 long term threat to Iraq\u2019s equilibrium \u2014 and the broader regional balance \u2014 is not the Islamic State, which I think is on the path to being defeated in Iraq and pushed out of its Iraqi sanctuary. The most significant long term threat is that posed by the Iranian-backed Shiite militias. If Daesh is driven from Iraq and the consequence is that Iranian-backed militias emerge as the most powerful force in the country \u2014 eclipsing the Iraqi Security Forces, much as Hezbollah does in Lebanon \u2014 that would be a very harmful outcome for Iraqi stability and sovereignty, not to mention our own national interests in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
General David Petraeus, who commanded U.S. troops in Iraq during the 2007-2008 surge said in an interview: “The current Iranian regime is not our ally in the Middle East. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42882,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[175],"class_list":{"0":"post-18098","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran-a-world","8":"tag-updated"},"yoast_head":"\n