Iraq News

A Member in State of Law Coalition headed by Iraq Premier Nouri Al Maliki said on Sunday that transgressions on the Iraqi borders cannot be halted but by using F16 fighters and added that the sovereignty and reverence of Iraq in the region will not be complete without these airplanes adding that Al Maliki’s announcement of the willingness to double the number of bought airplanes is great news for all Iraqis. MP Ahmad Al Abbasi said during an interview with Alsumarianews that the fact that the government doubled the number of bought F16 airplane is great news and pointed that it’s good news because a country that does not have air coverage cannot defend its rights and belongings. Al Abbasi added that during the last period Iraq borders were transgressed so many times and it is not possible to protect the same and to halt these actions but by having a strong air force since helicopters cannot cover a large area. Member in State of Law Coalition said that part of the state dignity comes from having diversified arms and added that Iraq’s sovereignty won’t be complete without these airplanes. However he discarded that the fact that Iraq has these airplanes might affect its neighbors. “If Iraq has 36 airplanes that don’t mean that they will be used to fight against neighboring countries” Al Abbasi said, adding that the policies of the former regime created the idea that Iraq has arms to fight against its neighbors. Iraq Premier Nouri Al Maliki had said during a press conference in the parliament headquarters that the F16 contract will be doubled and Iraq will buy 36 airplanes instead of 18. Maliki added that the price of the airplanes will be paid from the excess of Iraq oil exports as oil prices increased. Iraq delayed the initial purchase of the jets after putting USD 900 million of allocated funds into its national food program to ease pressure from Iraqis protesting against poor basic services.