Iraqi forces liberating Hit, positive step: Analyst

Press TV has interviewed James Jatras, former US Senate foreign policy analyst in Washington, about Iraqi forces capturing the northern edge of the militant-held city of Hit in Anbar Province after heavy clashes with Daesh Takfiri terrorists.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Would you mind telling us in your opinion what is the military significance of this major advancement?

Jatras: Well the military significance I would say primarily is this, if you listen to discussion in the United States about the Islamic State (Daesh) and how to defeat it, you will get all these speculations about how many American troops need to be on the ground. You need boots on the ground and it seems people here want to ignore that there are boots on the ground. There is the Iraqi army, there is the Syrian army, there are Kurds, there are many fighters on the ground who can make progress and are making progress if you have the right strategy and I hope that the liberation of Hit is a step in that direction just as we saw on the Syrian front with the liberation of Palmyra.

Press TV: In terms of military presence on the ground there you were speaking of the Iraqi troops, how significant do you think is the alliance and cooperation of the Iraqi, let’s say, popular forces and Mobilization Units?

Jatras: That is hard for me to say but I would think it would have to be significant for this turnaround to have occurred given how bad things looked just a few months ago. So I think it is a positive step in terms of where this victory is in Hit. There are two aspects - one is in the direction of the border with Syria on way toward Iraq which is the so-called capital of Daesh and it was mentioned in the report as well that this puts increasing pressure on Daesh which is of course facing Kurdish forces in north with respect to Mosul. So I think it hits them in more than one direction.

Press TV: And very briefly, in the overall picture of the fight against Daesh or ISIL both in Syria and Iraq, how significant do you interpret or see this, this advancement toward Hit which is seen as, let’s say, a major gateway for the liberation of Mosul as you just mentioned?

Jatras: Well I think we need to keep in mind that the major threat of Daesh is an ideological one, the way it can inspire attacks in other areas, to have groups like al-Shabab and Boko Haram and elements of the Taliban saying that they are aligning themselves or making themselves part of Daesh.

Now if they start to be defeated within the area that they have declared to be their state, I think their credibility for reach into other areas - I should add Libya to that as well - begins to start to take a bidding as well that the inspiration this sets for certain people of, let’s say, unstable disposition to want to join this movement perhaps becomes less and if anything, maybe that will become the more significant development.

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