On Tuesday, the Iraqi Shia militia Kataib Hezbollah renewed calls for the US to leave Iraq as it appears there has been no progress on a withdrawal in negotiations between Baghdad and Washington.
Abu Ali al-Askari, a spokesman for Kataib Hezbollah, said the group “did not perceive the American enemy’s seriousness in withdrawing the troops and dismantling its spy bases in Iraq.”
Al-Askari added that Kataib Hezbollah hasn’t “seen the necessary seriousness from the Iraqi government to remove them.”
Kataib Hezbollah and other Shia militias suspended attacks on US forces in February under pressure from the Iraqi government and Iran following the drone attack on Tower 22 in Jordan that killed three US Army Reserve soldiers. US bases in Iraq and Syria were attacked in April, but there were no casualties, and there have been no attacks since then.
US bases came under hundreds of attacks between mid-October and early February that started in response to US support for the Israeli slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. In response, the US bombed Kataib Hezbollah and other militias that are members of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an umbrella group that’s part of Iraq’s security forces.
The US airstrikes on Iraq, which were not coordinated with Baghdad, prompted Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to call for the US-led foreign coalition in Iraq to withdraw. The US and Iraq began talks on the future of the presence, but after al-Sudani recently visited Washington, there was no sign that a withdrawal would happen anytime soon. As long as the US refuses to leave Iraq, where it has 2,500 troops, there’s always a chance of attacks restarting.
The US has been under pressure to leave Iraq since January 2020, when Iraq’s parliament voted to expel US forces due to the US drone strike in Baghdad that killed Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani and PMF leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The US has been able to stay because of the enormous economic leverage it has over Iraq.
Since the 2003 invasion, Iraq’s foreign reserves have been held by the US Federal Reserve, giving Washington control over Baghdad’s dollar supply and the ability to devalue the Iraqi dinar. The US also keeps tight control over Iraq’s ability to pay its neighbor Iran for much-needed electricity.
US is borrowing money from the future to create enemies today.
“The higher rates caused the interest expense owed by the government to surge. [2021] And quite suddenly, the US found itself on an utterly unsustainable fiscal path. Despite there not being a recession, the federal budget deficit effectively doubled to a staggering $2 trillion in the fiscal year through last September. One would be forgiven for thinking the US was shifting to a war-time economy. And it hasn’t stopped there: the debt is increasing at a staggering clip of $1 trillion nearly every 100 days.” – Henry Johnston
Exactly why I advocate putting our heads together to figure out a new constitution and location for a new capitol. The reason US government wants to destroy Venezuela is it has a superior modern democracy with a hack proof ballot,,, I offer my picture of how it works at https://www.constituentassembly.org/
We also could solve this problem by having a defensive military. Bring the troops home and put them to work on infrastructure. Yes, the dollar will go belly-up.
Bring the troops home and discharge 99% of them so they can start being productive individuals instead of workfare clients. The other 1% can be cadre to train the militia so that if the US is even invaded it can fight back.
DC needs to be fumigated.
Do American taxpayers Renew Calls for US To Withdraw from Iraq?
Kick them out and ask Russia or China for help or both , America is a cancer that will sooner or later kill the planet .
How about Iraq stays for Iraqis? By your logic, you don’t exchange cancer for diabetes. The country was more stable prior to the 2003 invasion.
Time for the Shia militias in Iraq to take out the 2,500 Americans there and blow up the Green Zone. They have more than enough firepower and manpower to do it. Start a new “Iraq War 2.0” – the US doesn’t have the military to do it over again.
US considers being asked to leave as an excuse to stay.
“If they don’t want us they are terrorists and we must stay to fight them”