Deepening Russian involvement in Iraq complicates U.S. airstrikes on Islamic State
Russian reconnaissance flights over Iraq to spy on Islamic State militants would complicate the U.S.-led campaign against the extremist group but wouldn’t obstruct it, American officials said Monday after Baghdad left open the possibility of overflights by Moscow. At the same time, U.S. ability to share intelligence with Iraq could be diminished if the Iraqis […]Matt Bradley, Gordon Lubold, and Nathan Hodge report for the Wall Street Journal :
Russian reconnaissance flights over Iraq to spy on Islamic State militants would complicate the U.S.-led campaign against the extremist group but wouldn’t obstruct it, American officials said Monday after Baghdad left open the possibility of overflights by Moscow. At the same time, U.S. ability to share intelligence with Iraq could be diminished if the Iraqis are sharing information with the Russians, American defense officials said.
An Iraqi defense ministry spokesman said Monday that his country would be open to Russian intelligence gathering in Iraqi airspace. The comments came a day after Iraq said it had reached an intelligence-sharing agreement with Russia, the Syrian regime and Iran.
