MESOP : IRAN GREATER REGIONAL THREAT AS ISIS / BY LIZ SLY & DAVID PETRAEUS

David Petraeus, the former commander of coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, said in an interview in The Washington Post Friday that Iran and its proxy militias in Iraq are a greater regional threat than ISIS. “The #1 long term threat to Iraq’s equilibrium – and the broader regional balance – is not the Islamic State…The most significant long term threat is that posed by the Iranian-backed Shiite militias.”

He underscored, “The current Iranian regime is not our ally in the Middle East. It is ultimately part of the problem, not the solution. The more the Iranians are seen to be dominating the region, the more it is going to inflame Sunni radicalism and fuel the rise of groups like the Islamic State.” As for the leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force, Qassem Suleimani, Petraeus said, “I have several thoughts when I see pictures of him, but most of those thoughts probably aren’t suitable for publication in a family newspaper.” Read all: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/03/20/petraeus-the-islamic-state-isnt-our-biggest-problem-in-iraq/?elq=927797f4f407488e823288ef329727a4&elqCampaignId=4922&elqaid=7627&elqat=1&elqTrackId=ef92a6c527514584baf9ae0aca0fe575