Aftandilian in The Arab Weekly on US-Iraqi Relations
Gregory Aftandilian, Lecturer at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, published an Op-Ed on how United States President Donald Trump’s recent comments have adversely affected US-Iraqi relations.
Aftandilian’s Op-Ed, entitled “Trump’s Iran Strategy Through Iraq Causing a Stir,” was published in The Arab Weekly on February 24, 2019.
From the text of the article:
US President Donald Trump’s decision to keep US troops in Iraq is not only aimed at having a residual force there to train the Iraqi Army and strike any resurgent Islamic State (ISIS) elements that may emerge but also to “watch Iran,” as he said in a recent interview.
In other words, he sees the US military presence in Iraq to keep eyes on Iran as part of his strategy to keep Tehran boxed in. However, regime change in Tehran may be what he and his advisers are really after.
Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, has said Trump’s tough sanctions on Iran are meant to squeeze Iran “until the pips squeak.” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as a congressman before working in the Trump administration, is on record stating that Iran is “intent on destroying America.” Last May, after Trump announced his withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, Pompeo listed 12 demands on Iran that he undoubtedly knew Tehran was not going to accept.
Although the Trump administration has insisted publicly that it is not pursuing regime change in Iran, few believe it. Early in the administration, a memo circulated in the White House, a report in Politico said, discussed ways of fomenting popular unrest in Iran with the aim of establishing a “free and democratic” country. The memo reportedly said the “very structure of the regime invites instability, crisis and possible collapse.”
Aftandilian spent over 21 years in government service, most recently on Capitol Hill where he was foreign policy adviser to Congressman Chris Van Hollen (2007-2008), professional staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and foreign policy adviser to Senator Paul Sarbanes (2000-2004), and foreign policy fellow to the late Senator Edward Kennedy (1999).