Petraeus, citing a Shafaq News report: Iraq is facing a pivotal moment in restoring state authority.
Petraeus, citing a Shafaq News report: Iraq is facing a pivotal moment in restoring state authority.
2026-07-02
Shafaq News – Baghdad
Retired US General David Petraeus, relying on private information reported by Shafaq News Agency, commented on the anti-corruption campaign in Iraq, considering that what is happening may represent the beginning of one of the most important political transformations in the country in years.
In an article published in the Washington Post and translated by Shafaq News Agency, Petraeus wrote that a series of recent developments in Iraq may indicate a return of state authority, noting that the Counter-Terrorism Service, acting on judicial orders issued by the Supreme Judicial Council, arrested more than 60 political figures and senior officials in Baghdad on corruption charges.
He added that other detainees in the Kurdistan Region were transferred to the custody of the Counter-Terrorism Service, and that immunity was lifted from more than ten MPs, citing information reported by Shafaq News Agency from informed sources, which stated that the first phase of the campaign may include about 200 arrests.
Petraeus believed that the importance of these developments lay not only in the names of those arrested, but also in the possibility that key state institutions—the judiciary, the Prime Minister’s office, and the counter-terrorism agency—were working in a coordinated manner to reassert state authority.
He pointed out that Iraq has witnessed previous anti-corruption campaigns, but what may make this time different is the use of official and professional institutions to confront corruption and influence networks, in conjunction with the issuance of judicial rulings and the confiscation of assets in major corruption cases.
He also noted the government’s adherence to the September 30 deadline for handing over unlicensed weapons, at a time when some armed factions are trying to place what they call “resistance weapons” outside the authority of the state.
According to Petraeus, the main challenge in Iraq is no longer defeating ISIS or holding elections, but the state’s ability to restore legitimacy and governance, and to enforce the law on the political, economic, and armed networks that have competed with official institutions for years.
He warned that arrests alone will not change Iraq unless they are complemented by fair investigations and consistent judicial procedures, and the state proves that no political or armed entity is above the law.
Petraeus concluded by saying that Iraq, which two decades ago was the main battleground in the Middle East, may today become a central test of the possibility of building solid state institutions after decades of war, dictatorship, sectarian violence, terrorism, corruption and foreign interference.
shafaq.com
