SOSi employee, Sadi Othman, former advisor to General David Petraeus, then commanding general of the U.S. and multinational forces in Iraq and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, was live in-studio with the Al Arabiya News Channel to discuss SOSi’s role in providing base operations and military logistics support at Camp Taji in Iraq and the impact of a March 11th rocket attack at the site.
The following is a translation by Exovera of Mr. Othman’s interview with Al-Arabiya Al-Hadath on March 12, 2020.
HOST: From Washington with us is Sadi Othman, former advisor to the U.S. Command in Iraq and also an executive advisor to SOSi for Middle East Affairs. Mr. Sadi, you are an advisor to the U.S. Command since 2003 and maybe you have closely followed up on Camp Taji and other camps. Would you please give us some background on this camp [Taji], its construction, objectives, geographical location, and how much it represents a concern for the Americans when it is hit this way?
OTHMAN: First, thank you Mr. Mahmoud and thanks to the dear viewers. As you know, since 2003 and 2004, I used to work with Gen. [David] Petraeus, who was tasked with rebuilding the Iraqi military and security institutions like the Army and police forces. Camp Taji was one of these first camps. It existed before 2003 and was the largest camp in Iraq in terms of maintenance and training on various vehicles and equipment, whether U.S. equipment or not, like tanks and (Abrams) helicopters. It was used for training Iraqi forces by the Coalition Forces, NATO, and other civil establishments that were operating there to train Iraqis.
HOST: You are the advisor of the executive company which provided living and logistical support at Camp Taji, and so you might have been in touch with what was going on in the camp recently. Would you please give us an idea if the situation had changed after the killing of former Quds Force commander Qassim Suleimani? Because the Americans always said that they took precautions. What had changed in the camp after killing Suleimani?
OTHMAN: Actually, I personally was not there lately. However, in all places where U.S. forces and companies were present, there was always caution and vigilance and I am sure that these precautionary measures were taken in coordination with companies, the U.S. government, and the Iraqi government. As you know, our company is the one which ran the camp, as you mentioned. It provided logistical and living support like food, electricity, and internet. As I mentioned to you, there were International Coalition forces, U.S. forces, NATO forces, and companies that helped with maintaining Iraqi equipment, which were bought in from the United States and other countries. Going back to your question, I am sure that precautions were always studied, there were always consultations on these precautions with Iraqi partners and IC forces.
HOST: There was an attack last December in which a contractor was killed in the Kurdish areas, which led to the killing of Suleimani a few days later. The question here was, what is the expected U.S. response after the targeting of Camp Taji and the killing of two Americans and one British, which was bigger than the incident before? What kind of response do you expect?
OTHMAN: No doubt, you are right that this attack was bigger than the last one and I personally was in Embassy Baghdad when the attack on K-1 in Kirkuk took place, which unfortunately led to the killing of a contractor. I am not a spokesperson for the U.S. government, the U.S. administration, or the U.S. command in Iraq, but the killing of two U.S. soldiers and another British soldier as well as the material losses that my company was closely aware of made me refer you to what U.S. officials said, whether the Secretary of Defense or the CENTCOM Commander. I hope that the situation does not get worse, and I hope that the attackers realize that violence, unfortunately and from our long experience, will only generate violence. I hope that that these [attackers] realize that the first loser was of course the people and Iraq was damaged the most by these actions.
HOST: Mr. Sadi, you went through the siege and attack on Embassy Baghdad and you had been in touch with this issue since 2003, and you had witnessed [many] Iraqi governments and changes from Paul Bremer to now. I will ask you about the Iraqi-Iraqi file, not the Iraqi-U.S. In your opinion, could there be an awareness on part of the Iraqi authorities in dealing with these crises? Are the Americans aware of the possibility of weakening the Iranian axis inside Iraq?
OTHMAN: Of course, I am speaking to you on a personal level about this issue. From my long experience in Iraq and my experience and work with Iraqi officials from different political persuasions, there is no doubt that Iraq, let us confess, had been through many problems and ups and downs since 2003. I see that there are sharp divisions in Iraq now, but I noticed that there was a keen awareness by the Iraqi people. Frankly speaking, to the Iraqi leadership, we do not want to get Iraq into things that would damage it. If you have listened to the statements of [Iraqi] officials, like militia leaders or some groups from all parties, whether Sunni or Shia or even Kurds from all persuasions, they have denounced this attack and the previous attacks and frankly pointed out that these attacks harmed Iraq and Iraqi sovereignty . I think that the Iraqi people, which is clear from what we have been seeing over the past years [host interrupts: but the Iraqi decision is made outside Iraq. It is cooked outside Iraq. This is the problem. You know about it better than me.]
OTHMAN: I hope, Mr. Mahmoud, that the Iraqi officials realize, and I do not think that they are happy with the situation they live in, that the Iraqi decision becomes an independent Iraqi decision. In a sense, they should not cause the situation in Iraq deteriorate because of foreign interests.
HOST: I want your opinion about the statement of Defense Secretary Mark Esper who said that [President Donald] Trump gave him all the powers to respond to the attack on Taji and we will focus on the groups that carried out this attack. Here, I want to ask, not because you are an official or a spokesperson for the Defense Department. I want to ask you as an expert on the Americans and Iraqis. How could you visualize the nature of the response to us?
OTHMAN: I wish, Mr. Mahmoud, I knew what the response would be. I should be frank and honest with you, but it was clear that Mr. Secretary’s statement was serious. At least I can tell you, maybe, that President Trump authorized him to do what he saw fit. This is my response to your question.
HOST: Thank you very much, Mr. Othman, the former advisor to the U.S. Command in Iraq and also an executive advisor to SOSi for Middle East Affairs.
