Frustrated by what they see as the U.S.'s failure to defeat ISIS militants who have seized as much as one-third of the country, some Iraqi civilians want Russia to start bombing their soil.
Moscow began launching airstrikes in neighboring Syria last month, supporting President Bashar Assad in a complex civil war against ISIS extremists and other rebel groups.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi — who has seen large swaths of his country and Syria overrun by ISIS — said last week he would "consider" and "welcome" Russian airstrikes alongside those by the U.S.-led coalition.
Iraq's government and powerful Iranian-backed militias question the United States' resolve in fighting ISIS militants, alleging the U.S.-led coalition's airstrikes are ineffective. Besides, after the 2003 U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, subsequent civil war and the Western coalition's withdrawal, few expected to see the American military return in any form.
"I believe that [Russia] can do what the Americans could not," said Ali Hussein Al-Obaidi, a 42-year-old who owns a mini-supermarket in Baghdad.
"The Russians are serious in fighting terrorism in Syria and Iraq because they know exactly the danger behind these terrorists," he added. "If Russia leaves the terrorists free … they will go in the future to Russia and cause trouble."
Majority Shiite-Muslim Iraq last month said it had begun sharing security and intelligence information with Russia, Iran and Syria. Iran is also majority Shiite, and Syria is ruled by the Assad regime, who are members of a Shiite sect called the Alawites. ISIS militants fighting to overthrow the governments in Iraq and Syria follow an extreme and hard-line version of Sunni Islam.
Most Iraqis would welcome Russian intervention, no matter their religion or sect, according to Ahmed Al-Abyadh, founder of Iraq's Kafa (Enough) independent protest movement.
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