The U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and Syria has seen “no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces” in the two countries, its deputy commander said today.
British Maj. Gen. Chris Ghika was quick to insist that position doesn’t contradict messaging from the White House and Pentagon, which last week claimed it had intelligence of impending Iranian-sponsored action against U.
S. forces and interests, including in Iraq.The coalition has observed “no change in their posture since the recent exchange between the United States and Iran and we hope and expect that that will continue,” Ghika told reporters, referring to Iraqi Shiite militia groups that receive support from Iran. “We don’t see an increased threat from them at this stage.”
Asked to square his statements with assertions by the White House and U.S. Central Command that the threat to U.S. troops in Iraq from the militias is increasing, Ghika insisted that “we’re on exactly the same page,” adding later, “I don’t think we’re out of step with the White House at all.”
Ghika acknowledged that Iranian-backed militias are among the threats the coalition routinely considers in assessing how to defend its troops. “We’ve reviewed them obviously in light of the events of the past week or so,” he said of the coalition’s security measures. “We find them completely satisfactory and we don’t intend to change them.”
He declined to say whether the formal threat level the coalition lists at its Baghdad headquarters has changed.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine