Shafaq News- Washington/ Baghdad
Iraq’s widening anti-corruption campaign has drawn attention and support in Washington before Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi’s expected White House visit, former US intelligence official Paul Davis told Shafaq News.
Davis, a professor of cyber affairs at the Institute of World Politics and a former Defense Intelligence Agency official, said the arrests marked a step the United States and the international community had been waiting for for years.
Al-Zaidi held a decisive meeting with Iraqi political leaders before the campaign, telling them to return money suspected of being seized unlawfully or face arrest warrants, Davis stated, adding that the recent moves show Al-Zaidi is “trying to translate his reform pledges into action and test the government’s ability to impose the rule of law.”
The campaign, known as Operation “Dawn Crackdown,” began early Sunday with arrests targeting political officials, lawmakers, business figures, and suspected networks accused in public funds cases. A source told Shafaq News that the campaign’s toll reached 67 detainees in its first 24 hours alone, while another said the first phase targets more than 200 figures within 72 hours, as part of a wider six-month track to fight corruption and recover public money.
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Al-Zaidi is expected to visit Washington in mid-July to meet US President Donald Trump, according to a joint statement issued earlier this month by the prime minister and US Presidential Envoy Tom Barrack.
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According to Davis, the campaign could strengthen Al-Zaidi’s political and diplomatic position during his upcoming meetings in Washington by showing seriousness in fighting corruption, although the arrests could also trigger an “internal political crisis” because some of those targeted hold influence inside Iraq’s political class and parliament.
Washington will watch the campaign closely, Davis said, not only through arrest numbers but through its “ability to continue, reach court rulings, recover public funds, and avoid selectivity or political pressure.”
For Shafaq News, Mostafa Hashem, Washington D.C.