Loves Me, Loves Me Not
Allegations arose as a reconnaissance aircraft was shot down in northeastern Kirkuk. From Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), Keerthana Nimmagadda reports on the discussion that surfaced as a result of the incident.
A session was interrupted as the Executive Board provided the council with their first update: a French reconnaissance aircraft was found shot down in the northeastern area of Kirkuk, Iraq. An official statement was released by the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, which claimed responsibility over the incident, stating that it was “… a result of an unauthorized and unilateral measure.” According to the news report, an analysis of the site of wreckage, which was provided by a military expert, revealed that markings found were “consistent with that of the Swedish military.”
The Commanders of Malaysia and Canada expressed deep remorse over the incident, as it was also revealed that the lives of five French crew-members were taken as a result of the event. Both Commanders also stressed over the importance of focusing on providing humanitarian aid to the areas affected by the wrath of Da’esh, as opposed to aiming on military advancements. The Commander of Malaysia went on to point out that this kind of occurrence is exactly why unilateral moves are not encouraged; a few nations sometimes incorrectly deem certain moves to be unauthorized.
The Representative of the Kingdom of Sweden confirmed that the missiles found on the site of wreckage, indeed, belonged to the Swedish Armed Forces. However, the heat turned up as the Commander of the French Republic (France) questioned the validity of the news report, wondering whether France was the only nation to own E-2 Hawkeye aircrafts. As the report did not contain any additional information about the flight crew-members, the Commander went on to claim that, perhaps, the crew members could have been kidnapped by the Iraqi Joint Operations Command.
To support France’s proclamation, the Commander of the United Kingdom (UK) of Great Britain and Northern Ireland stated that aircrafts of the E-2 Hawkeye make were manufactured by the United States of America (USA). The Commander of the UK claimed that a country like the USA, which stuck strongly to its foreign policy, would indubitably not supply their aircrafts to France, with which it has sour relations. The Representative of the USA jumped in by asking why the Republic of Iraq (Iraq) would choose to shoot down an aircraft that belonged to a member of the coalition. The Representative questioned whether this was a sudden shift in foreign policy for Iraq, or if it simply did not have faith in the coalition.
The Representatives of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Kingdom of Denmark (Denmark) added fuel to the fire by declaring that Iraq could not be trusted. Denmark debated whether Iraq acted out of necessity, as it might have had something to hide from the coalition. Denmark further stated that severe miscommunication between partners of the coalition could lead to the members to act against the coalition.
The debate concluded on a befuddling note, as the commanders were left to wonder whether the report was valid; if it was, they were puzzled over why Iraq would choose to act against the coalition. Throughout the discussion, Iraq chose to remain silent and refrain from commenting on the situation.
(Edited by Shruthi Subramanian)
