Shia Dawa founder downplays impact of Israel's Gaza war on Iraq
Al-Shabandar’s controversial views contrast with the opinions of several Iraqi political analysts and experts who have predicted Iraq could face the looming spectre of spillover ramifications from the Gaza-Israel conflict.
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Ghalib al-Shabandar, one of the founders of the Islamic Dawa Party. [Dana Taib Menmy/TNA]
An Iraqi veteran politician and founder of the Shia Islamic Dawa Party member says Israel's brutal war on Gaza will not have any consequences for Iraq as the Iraqi armed factions are only trying to save their faces.
"There are no consequences of the war for Iraq in any way, and what the Iraqi groups are doing now attacking the bases in Iraq is considered a simple job, maybe for proving self-existence, and may be obliged to do so, because if they do not conduct such actions they would be blamed for defeatism," Ghalib al-Shabandar, one of the founders of the Islamic Dawa Party told The New Arab during a face-to-face interview in Baghdad. "Therefore, I think there will be no ramifications for Iraq. So far, we have not seen any consequences for Egypt, Jordan, and Syria; how there would be penalties for Iraq?"
Al-Shabandar's controversial views contrast with views by several Iraqi political analysts and experts who have predicted Iraq could face the looming spectre of spillover ramifications from the Gaza-Israel conflict, with potential repercussions extending to its stability, security, and political landscape.
Early on 7 October 2023, Hamas launched a multifaceted surprise attack that killed around 1,200 Israelis, both soldiers and civilians, wounded hundreds, and saw about 200 captured and taken to Gaza.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella network of Iraqi militia groups backed by Iran, has claimed responsibility for tens of attacks on Iraqi bases hosting US and other foreign forces in the country.
The group is boasting the assaults are in response to US support for Israel on Gaza since 7 October, as the death toll in Gaza exceeds 15,000, with women and children accounting for more than 10,000.
Tens of drone and rocket assaults by the Iraqi groups have so far led to some minor injuries among some 2,500 US troops who are in Iraq to advise and assist local troops in combating IS, which proclaimed a 'caliphate' in the country following its meteoric rise in 2014.
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