With the recent release of the Iran Cables by the Intercept in partnership with the New York Times, it has come to light that Iran has gained control of much of the Iraqui government in the approximately two decades since the U.S. invaded and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein. Not only has Iran compromised the government of Iraq, but many former CIA operatives and agents have changed their allegiance to Iran as well. Even the former Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi has close ties to Iran, stating his “special relationship” with Iran in the leaked cables.
These revelations are a further sign that the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq was a complete and total strategic failure. Prior to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, Iraq served as a counterbalance to Iran’s power and influence. In fact, they fought a bloody 8-year war in the 1980s, during which the United States actually supported Hussein. But now, Iraq has become almost totally compromised by Iranian influence, potentially further destabilizing the region, as is seen in the current protests in Iraq against corruption, but also widespread Iranian influence in the government.
Not only this, but the U.S. made the mistake of firing many of its CIA operatives and military translators; who, with no other place to go, turned to the Iranians. The only precondition was that they tell the Iranians everything they knew. This means that Iran’s
Ministry of Intelligence now has a full understanding of American capabilities, the location and names of informants and agents. This could become a strong advantage for Iran if a conflict ever broke out with the U.S. or Israel.
The Iraq war was an extremely shortsighted foreign policy decision by the United States and only served to further destabilise the region and provide an opening for Iran to gain influence and disrupt the balance of power in the Middle East. The decisions made by the U.S. throughout the conflict have in effect given control, or at least strong influence over Iraq to the Iranians, and this doesn’t seem likely to change in the near future.