WASHINGTON — Iraq’s highest-ranking Sunni is in Washington this week pleading for more military aid for his community’s militias, hoping the Trump administration will deliver on pledges to counter Iran’s growing power across the Middle East.
Osama Al Nujaifi is one of Iraq’s three vice-presidents, and his brother heads a prominent Iraqi defence faction. Both have been represented in Washington by the same lobbyist employed last year by Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser. In February, Trump fired Flynn, who is now under investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Al Nujaifi met Monday with a team of State Department and other officials, kicking off a week of efforts to bolster the influence of Iraq’s minority Sunni Muslims — and shore up his power base ahead of national elections next year. His requests for equipment and training face resistance: While Trump has tweeted warnings about Shiite Iran’s expanding control over Iraq, Americans officials aren’t yet providing military aid directly to Iraq’s Sunni fighters.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Al Nujaifi recalled the US military support for militias during the “Sunni Awakening” against Al Qaida in Iraq a decade ago and said Sunni forces once again “need the ground support of the United States” as Daesh is driven from Iraqi territory. He said the US and Iraq also need to press for the disarmament of Shiite militias, many of which are supported by Iran.
Al Nujaifi’s push comes with a family complication. His brother, Atheel, is the former governor of the recently liberated city of Mosul and heads a prominent Sunni militia. Sunnis represent about 40 per cent of Iraq, but consistently complain about being underrepresented in Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government.
In a speech Tuesday at the US Institute of Peace, Osama Al Nujaifi will argue that “more attention should be paid to the strengthening of military capabilities” of communities wrested from Daesh control, like majority Sunni Mosul. He said that “may require sending more American military forces.”
A significant ramp-up in direct US aid to Iraq’s Sunni militias — let alone American troops — isn’t likely, analysts say.
“I presume his pleas will be met with collective eye-rolling,” said Michael Knights, a Mideast analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Two years of lobbying in Washington didn’t win much support for Al Nujaifi’s brother. After fleeing Mosul when Daesh captured the city in 2014, Atheel Al Nujaifi turned to Turkey’s government for training and other aid for his militia. US support remained minimal, Knights said.
In 2015 and again last year, Atheel Al Nujaifi lobbied Congress and other US officials for a long list of weapons and other aid to equip 10,000 fighters.
