Trump moves bewilder Iraqis risking their lives to defeat ISIL

With the president’s travel ban on Iraqi citizens, the US government is turning its back on the men who were trained by American special forces and stood alongside the US in the fight against extremism, Foreign Correspondent Florian Neuhof reports

ERBIL // US president Donald Trump’s temporary ban on Iraqi citizens entering the country, ostensibly an antiterror measure, has bemused and angered the soldiers battling ISIL in Mosul, the last major stronghold of the terror group in Iraq.

Iraqi Special Operations Forces (Isof), also known as the Golden Division, have been fighting ISIL since it swept across the Syrian border in 2014. Established shortly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the Americans, the outfit was trained by US special forces, with many of its officers travelling to the US to sharpen their skills at elite training facilities.

Since ISIL became the West’s No 1 enemy, the Golden Divi- sion has put its expertise to good use and has done more than any ground force to roll back the extremist group’s gains.

They have suffered terrible casualties and continue to lose men in the ongoing battle for Mosul. In spite of their sacrifices, they now find themseles banned from the US, an irony not lost on the men.

“Are we bad people, is that why they don’t want us to get in?” asked a soldier in Mosul.

The ban, widely regarded as targeting Muslims, has directly affected the division’s top commander, Gen Talib Al Kenani. The general’s family has moved to the US and he was due to visit them this week before the ban ruined his plans. A fre- quent visitor to the US central command in Tampa, Florida, he is livid at the restriction.

“I have been fighting terrorism for 13 years and winning.

“Now my kids are asking if I’m a terrorist,” he told CBS.

Isof top brass are not the only high-ranking Iraqi military affected by the ban. Gen Najim Al Jubouri, the overall commander of the campaign to liberate Mosul, lived in the US before returning to Iraq to fight ISIL.

As mayor of the Iraqi town of Tel Afar, Mr Al Jubouri cracked down hard on Al Qaeda in Iraq, a forerunner of ISIL, and left the country for the US when the death threats mounted. Mr Trump’s ban came after he instructed the military leadership to intensify the fight against ISIL and there are thousands of US troops assisting the Iraqis in the battle for Mosul. US commanders responsible for Iraq operations would have rolled their eyes at the ban, fearing it would strain the relationship with their Iraqi allies on the ground.

But relations have been cordial thus far, and the Iraqi military knows that it is reliant on the US-led coalition for air support, intelligence and advice.

A greater threat to the US war effort is the ban’s effect on Iraqi politics. Mr Trump’s move plays into the hands of Shiite politicians and militia groups that have been sceptical of US involvement in the war, and further strengthens Iran’s position in Baghdad.

The Iraqi parliament has already called for a reciprocal ban for US citizens, which could in theory end the US military presence in Iraq as the battle for Mosul moves into a decisive stage.

Prime minister Haider Al Abadi has rejected this, but is further weakening his position by taking a stand against the popular outrage. Former prime minister and Shiite hardliner Nouri Al Maliki, whose discriminatory policies against Iraq’s Sunnis have done much to foster ISIL’s success, is waiting in the wings.