HARD-WON LESSONS

Iraq President: ‘Never Start a War Because You Never Know How It Ends’

Barham Salih also acknowledged the U.S. drone strike on an Iranian general has left Iraq in an uncomfortable spot.

Iraqi President Barham Salih is issuing dire warnings about the specter of another war in the Middle East—saying the country itself might not survive a conflict. “If we are not careful, we may go beyond the brink, God help us all, in the neighborhood and internationally, as well,” Salih told the New Yorker. Salih acknowledged that the U.S. assassination of Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani has put Iraq in an uncomfortable spot. “United States is our ally. Iran is our neighbor,” he said. Salih said Iraq’s eight-year war with Iran, which it invaded in 1980, showed that his country “should not fight a war, paid for by Iraqi resources and Iraqi lives, for others.” Another lesson from history: “Never start a war because you never know how it ends,” he said.