MESOP NEWS “ONE GERMAN TO BAGHDAD” : Germany to Send Soldier to Baghdad to Advise Army – Germany will send a military instructor to Baghdad by the beginning of 2017

Shoguna B. Sobir  – BasNews – 24/12/2016 – 02:14 –  SEATTLE — As part of a NATO mission, Germany will send a military instructor to help the Iraqi army this coming January. However, this will not be the first German military personnel in Iraq.

The German military instructor will be part of a 40 member NATO team working to train the Iraqi military.

“It’s called helping them to help themselves,” said the Defense Ministry spokesman, who remained anonymous. “NATO will offer courses to the Iraqi security forces, – but that’s at a ministerial level, so they won’t be on the ground,” reports Deutsche Welle. The team’s aim is to assist the Iraqi military to disarm improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and mines. Furthermore, they will assist in “security sector reform, military medicine and civil military planning.”

Because the military instructor will not be taking part in the battle on ground, the mission cannot be considered dangerous, and thus according to the German Defense Ministry, it does not require parliamentary approval.  In addition to the 150 German soldiers already in Iraq,  Germany also has sent thousands of assault rifles and millions of rounds of ammunition to the Peshmerga forces. The latest delivery from Germany included 1,000 G36 assault rifles, 2,5 million rounds of ammunition, and parts for weapons that were sent earlier. The Peshmerga forces were supplied with approximately 2,500 tons of military equipment, including 20,000 riflesThis training program was requested by the Iraqi government and was agreed upon in July of 2015.