German Federal Foreign Office studies its forces mission in Syria and Iraq
North-Press Agency
Berlin – Farhad Hami
The German Federal Foreign Office spokeswoman described the visit of German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas to the Middle East as ” a trip to the crisis”, in which he will discuss several issues with his counterparts in Jordan, Iraq, the UAE, and Iran.
His Agenda includes Iranian issue, Yemeni war, the fight against “Islamic state”, moreover, the fate of German air force, that is a part of the International Coalition against ISIS, which is militarily based in Jordan.
Far from the Iranian issue details and the Yemeni civil war, the German Minister started his visit to Jordan last Friday to inspect his country’s troops at Al-Azraq Military Base, a mission within the International Coalition which is supposed to be finished by the end of this year, that poses a serious hurdle to the German government, where the United States calls for the importance of the German military to stay within the International Coalition, while the Democratic Social Party stresses on the necessity of the German military’s return to their home, the party participates in the governing alliance with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The German magazine “Der Spiegel” has published a report revealing a secret message was previously sent by a commander in the International Coalition to the German military, demanding the extension of their airstrikes in both Syria and Iraq, since Washington still believes that “the war on remnants of terrorism” requires more joint efforts within the scope of the International Coalition.
“With all due respect, I ask you to keep Tornado aircraft supplying fuel, continue Iraqi and Syrian air traffic control, and to contribute the support to the Iraqi army,” said Kenneth Frank McKenzie, American general, adding “It still requires great efforts to achieve a permanent triumph over the ideology of the “Islamic State.”
The protection of the United States forces
According to “Der Spiegel”, the US demand is directly related to the protection of the US forces on the ground, since the US forces are the only Western forces participating effectively with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to track down the terrorist sleeper cell remnants, which requires constant protection from the air.
Talks have been escalating in Berlin about the deadline of the German forces in October within the International Coalition, on the other hand, the United States has asked the German government to support the establishment of a buffer zone to protect the local forces of SDF in northeast Syria, where Tornado aircraft can represent a German contribution in this regard, yet, such a decision is related to the German federal parliament “Bundestag”.
Despite the fact that “Bundestag” may witness a hard dispute between the two ruling parties in the country upon the German air forces fate within the International Coalition, but Mr Heiko hinted during his visit to the airbase in Jordan last Friday, that his country may extend “Tornado” mission in Syria and Iraq, where Heiko has already thanked his American counterpart Mike Pompeo, who has earlier visited Berlin last month, on the presence of the US troops in Syria, mentioning that the United States isn’t going to withdraw its forces from northeast Syria.
While the German government is betting on resolving the gap of the outstanding issues with the United States over the Middle East, where the issue of countering terrorism, the Islamic State, by the International Coalition strategy, represents one of the issues that likely to resolve the controversies, as the Iranian issue is considered as a serious point of disagreement between the two governments, As Berlin, Paris, and London believe in the importance of rescuing the Iranian issue, by remapping the negotiations, away from the sanctions package and the military threats, while President Trump Administration continues to impose more sanctions on Tehran, with persistent threats of using force in case it’s necessary.