Last week, Iraq’s parliament voted to expel US troops from the country. The US claims they’ve not heard of that. Iraqi PM Adel Abdul Mahdi spoke with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and the State Department is trying to dodge specific comment. US officials insist, either way, that they don’t intend to leave.
The truth is uglier than that. Not only is the Trump Administration refusing a perfectly lawful Iraqi decision to revoke permission to keep troops in their country, they have also threatened a series of sanctions that would cripple the Iraqi economy virtually overnight.
Iraq made the unwise decision, earlier in the US occupation, to set up a bank account for the Oil Ministry to handle all money from international oil sales at the New York Federal Reserve. Banker to the world, but only if the US feels like it.
That account holds substantially all oil trade revenue, and that is a substantial part of Iraq’s government’s entire revenue. The US is now threatening to block Iraqi access to this account, and with it virtually their entire treasury, if they expel US troops.
The US froze this account very briefly in 2015 and it did major damage to the Iraqi economy, causing a panic. This freeze is a threat of a more permanent type, and would all but bankrupt Iraq overnight.
Iraqi bank officials expressed doubt the US would do this, noting it would cause a permanent break in US-Iraqi relations. President Trump seems to view the sum total of US interests in Iraq as it being a place to keep the military, however, and seems more than willing to do anything to make an example of Iraq for not letting the US stay.
State high road banditism.
It is the fault of Iraq. To be precise and correct , it’s the fault of Iraqi leadership . How could they trust America after seeing , experiencing, and knowing the actions and behaviors of USA against Iraq stretching back to 1950 or earlier .
It is also a lesson for other countries . But don’t count on it . American history was available to ME , to Soviet , to Pakistan to Indonesia and Congo or Phillipne or Cuba and Haiti and Honduras , But !!!
You write as if they had the choice. The USA allows NO free choice. Sovereign countries other than the USA and Israel do not exist.
Russia and China (Iran and N Korea) … but I take your point.
“ The US claims they’ve not heard of that. “
But they can punish for a behavior that they haven’t heard yet .
Poor Iraq. Anyone willing to trust the New York Federal Reserve could have no idea of the absolute lack of any sort of moral scruples its officials retain. Read the daily email “Wall Street on Parade” to get the hair-raising stories of the dangerous activities this entity even for the USA’s citizens, let alone an “ally” the USA has managed for thirty years to destroy.
There is a major oil market in Europe for North Sea oil, trading in Euros and Pounds, and using the benchmark Brent Sea crude for price point.
Iraq would be well advised to shift its oil money and market to Europe, ASAP. The US does not buy that oil anyway.
Uncle Sham has occupied Syria without anyone’s consent. What makes anyone think that a democratically elected Iraqis can force U.S out of Iraq?
“Iraq would loose access to its oil revenue over troops.”
I must confess, I find this confusing. Why wouldn’t the Iraqi authorities, immediately upon receiving this threat, move to transfer all funds out of that account and into a Russian or Chinese or UAE account? Or, if the US froze the account, start selling their oil, which they produce and sell on a daily basis, in Euros or Yuan and putting it into another non-US-controlled account. The Iraqis are caught in the middle of this very dangerous business, but they have options: Russians and Chinese ready to step in to be their new BFFs.
The “threat” seems impulsive to me, almost desperate. “The Soleimani gambit”, courtesy of Neocon psychopath Pompeo, is a catastrophe, and has Trump flailing about in unmoored frustration. He need to do a complete 180, which as we know he is perfectly capable of. He needs to fire Pompeo, and use this “opportunity” to withdraw from Iraq and Syria, otherwise he’s toast in 2020.
(Unless Biden or Warren gets the nomination, in which case the Presidency will go to whichever side has the most zealous, “post-truth”, zombie supporters.
Wm Casey Reagan’s Neocon CIA chief infamously said, “We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.” We’re there.)
Remarkable in a very bad way; these threats have all of the earmarks of zionist thuggery, which in most respects characterizes this zionist admin.
Pompeo and kushner need to be gone to allow this country some semblance of civilized and lawful behavior.
I do not expect that to happen anytime soon.
Why would anyone with a choice use the U.S. banking system at this point?