Jonathan Swan: To what extent do you think President Trump has thought through the consequences
of these decisions?
President Barham Salih: I'm the president of Iraq and Mr. Trump is the president of
the United States.
I deal with the consequences of the policy of the United States.
You as an American, you can think about how your decision making is done.
I don't interfere in domestic affairs of the United States.
Swan: No, I fully understand that.
I mean, but do you think that, that they know that these consequences are what's going to
happen?
Salih: We have had serious conversations about about this with senior American officials.
And I've said that the military defeat of ISIS is an important victory, but not incomplete
and precarious too as well.
It can easily unravel.
And this is what I'm worried about.
Five years of blood, treasure, effort.
A lot of human misery went into defeating ISIS.
This victory was not easy and for anyone to become complacent about it is terrible, reckless,
dangerous, tragic.
Swan: It sounds like you're worried about what President Trump has done in northern
Syria.
Salih: The entire neighborhood is is concerned about the implications of this policy.
The Turkish invasion, U.S. policy and its implications for the wider U.S. policy in
the Middle East.
This is causing everybody to recalibrate, to rethink.
And the implications for the Middle East are huge.