December’s announcement of a US pullout of troops from Syria set a lot
of discussions in motion, but in neighboring Iraq, it brought focus to
ongoing discussions on the presence of US troops inside Iraq.
This was already a major political issue within Iraq, with several
parties seeking a firm government timetable on a US withdrawal, since
the Abdel Mahdi government has been clear on the war against ISIS being
over. Since Syria shows the US can actually leave a country, this has brought the question into laser focus.
A lot of the Shi’ite parties have problems with the open-ended US
military presence in Iraq, and while some analysts are trying to pass
this off as Iran’s agenda, the reality is that US hostility to Shi’ite
militia groups, who have substantial political clout, is also driving
this interest.
Several political parties are jointly driving the call to settle of some
sort of firm timetable for the US pullout, and are even negotiating
internally for a bill that would set a firm deadline for all US troops
to be out of the country.
President Trump’s December visit, and his refusal to meet the Iraqi
premier started this push for the pullout, with many presenting it as a
deliberate slight by Trump and a sign of disdain toward the Iraqi
government.
Sorry, Iraqi lawmakers, you see, it doesn’t matter what you want. You lost the war and now the US owns you forever. Don’t like it? ISIS.
The US didn’t win the war, antarticus, it hasn’t won any major war since WWII in the Pacific. The Iraqi lawmakers and gov’t have the capacity to force US troops out; the US does NOT own them and won’t own them forever. You’re just being delusional here.
Neither George W. Bush nor Barack Obama are Presidents anymore, Donald Trump is, and he has no plans to keep them there forever. You forgot, after the demise of Saddam Hussein, Iraqis rose up against the US occupiers, and Obama withdrew them and used drones instead .. Still, the Iraqis never surrendered. That’s why the US NEVER won the war.
Just puts trump’s lie of “withdrawal ” under the microscope. He stated ISIS is defeated, ok, why move the US troops from Syria into Iraq ? Most likely, there exists some towns there that haven’t been rubbled yet, or have been rebuilt to a point they can be rubbled again.
Good and timely article. There’s a new SOFA agreement being negotiated even as we couch potato.
https://www.chicagotribune. com/news/nationworld/ct-us-troops-iraq-20170504-story.html