The Bundeswehr has launched its new mission in central Iraq. Already on 11th August a small team of instructors started a pilot training course for soldiers of the Iraqi army at Camp Taji near Baghdad. In the former camp of the army of Saddam Hussein German soldiers are to train the Iraqis in ABC defense, logistics, troop management, demining and sanitation.

The new details are the result of a detailed report to be approved today in the Cabinet. The government had already announced the new mission, but had not yet called an appointment. Since 2014, the Bundeswehr has been training the so-called Peschmerga fighters in the Kurdish-controlled north of the country and supplying them with weapons.

The focus of the operation should be the locations Taji and temporarily also in Besmaja. Both locations are currently being used and secured by Iraqis and foreign soldiers.

However, the Germans are not stationed in Central Iraq. They fly in each case with mobile teams for courses of six to eight weeks from Jordan. The Bundeswehr intends to limit personnel expenses. In a fixed deployment, the troops would have to protect their comrades in Iraq itself and provide expensive. Both partners in Taji and Besmaja are responsible for both.

Berlin wants to further stabilize Iraq with the mission. After Germany massively supported the Kurds in the north following the advance of the "Islamic State" (IS) in 2014, the central government of Iraq also pressed for help for their army. Baghdad still hopes to get the Kurds modern German weapons. The Federal Government rejects that but so far.

Meanwhile, the IS is largely pushed back from northern Iraq. Berlin warns anyway. "The terrorist organization continues to exist underground in Iraq and is carrying out attacks," the report said. The propaganda machinery of the extremists continue to run. Now it was important to prevent a return of the IS by means of a stable security apparatus.

Iraqis should provide security themselves

The report only outlines the mission and its purpose. "Security in Iraq can only be successfully guaranteed in the long term if the Iraqi armed forces and security forces themselves are in a position to fully meet their security responsibilities," it says in support of the operation. In short, you want to train the local army so well that you can do the job yourself.

However, the mission will not be easy: despite years of support from the US, the Iraqi army has given a miserable picture in the wake of IS. The troop lacks a functioning management system, but also a simple logistics. In addition, Baghdad decided in 2014 not to help the Kurds in the north and left them their own destiny in the fight against the IS.

Another problem is the many Shiite militias that have formed in Iraq in recent years. The so-called Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) have about 40 different groups with nearly 15,000 men under arms. They played a key role in the expulsion of the IS, are closely associated with Iran and are not under the command of Baghdad.

The Bundeswehr should keep away from these uncontrollable forces in their mission. Thus, the German offer "to the regular Iraqi armed forces and security forces," says the report. The militia were "expressly excluded". In fact, the militiamen mix again and again under the normal army, a separation is difficult to ensure.

The descriptions of the human rights situation are also pretty bleak. According to the report, the rule of law does not play a major role in the persecution of IS supporters. The massive violations of human rights by the notorious anti-terrorist police and special units of the army and the judiciary as well as the crackdown on the security forces are addressed only diplomatically.

According to him, there is still no real sense in Iraq that "torture to confess, arbitrary arrest, violation of criminal procedural principles and the enforcement of death sentences" are not among the methods of a constitutional state.

In the video: A German on the IS front - former Bundeswehr soldier in Iraq

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MIRROR TV