# What should the West do about the present situation in Iraq? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 11, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-west-do-about-the-present-situation-in-iraq/690553 "2014-06-11T18:20:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-west-do-about-the-present-situation-in-iraq/690553/201 "2014-07-04T00:40:56Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Well, it did do some good in Libya. Tell that to the people of Mali. And what’s so good about Libya today? ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-west-do-about-the-present-situation-in-iraq/690553/202 "2014-07-04T04:01:32Z")
The jets that Iraq received from Russia arrived disassembled and most likely from out of cold storage. IOW, just parts far from being mission-ready. [Iraq’s latest delivery of Russian SU-25 jets were _flown in_, and almost certainly not from Russia, but from Iran](https://www.iiss.org/en/militarybalanceblog/blogsections/2014-3bea/july-8d3b/iraqis-latest-su-25s-come-from-iran-889a), most likely by Iranian pilots who are much more likely to be their near-future pilots than Russians. They may not be the \*exact \*SU-25 aircraft that _used to_ belong to the Iraqi AF before they were flown to Iran pre-Gulf War 1, but it can be seen as a sort of “Return to Sender” gift from Iran after all these years. Anyway, it should be obvious why the Iraqi government isn’t too anxious to acknowledge such direct and material Iranian backing, since such could only serve to further inflame sectarian tensions. (Shiite Iranian foreigners being brought in to quell the Sunni Iraqis) ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-west-do-about-the-present-situation-in-iraq/690553/203 "2014-07-04T04:16:47Z")
Yeah, that’s weird. Iraqi pilots defect to Iran and Iran says “finders keepers.” Now those same planes are back rescuing Iraq. Awkward. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-west-do-about-the-present-situation-in-iraq/690553/204 "2014-07-04T06:07:05Z")
Speaking of awkward planes rescuing Iraq, up until now, [Iraq has been using Cessnas](http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/ac-208-combat-caravan/) to launch Hellfires at ISIS. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-west-do-about-the-present-situation-in-iraq/690553/205 "2014-07-07T05:16:28Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Speaking of awkward planes rescuing Iraq, up until now, [Iraq has been using Cessnas](http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/ac-208-combat-caravan/) to launch Hellfires at ISIS. OMG that’s friggin hilarious. A Combat Caravan. Fed Ex needs to convert a couple of theirs for when it absolutely positively has to be blown up overnight. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-west-do-about-the-present-situation-in-iraq/690553.md?page=10)