US War Without End: How Not to Withdraw from Iraq
TEHRAN (Basirat): On Wednesday, December 26, the United States government violated Iraqi sovereignty yet again with President Donald Trump’s surprise visit.
This comes as Iraqi MPs and people are against any continued, long-term US
military presence in their country. MPs from both ruling and opposition blocs in
parliament are now united in calls for an extraordinary session to debate the
matter, saying that the question of US violations of Iraqi sovereignty must be
answered. The ruling bloc and its leader Moqtada al-Sadr have long spoken out
about the need for Iraq to get out from under the domination of foreign powers
and seek a more independent future. They even seek a vote to expel US forces
from Iraq, else armed forces would force them out "by other means.”
If you're wondering why in the world this does matter (after some 15 years of
occupation and terror), then you haven't come to grips with Trump’s greatest
magic trick of all. Though the lame-duck president on New Year’s Eve seeks some
kind of political score, sporting dismally government shut-down and low
job-approval ratings, he continues to embed the US in Iraq, while framing the
issue of what to do there in such a way that any thought of withdrawal has fled
the scene:
President Trump greeted American troops on his unannounced trip on Wednesday,
where he defended his decision to withdraw forces from neighboring Syria and
declared that ISIL was "very nearly defeated”. It was his first visit to a
conflict zone as commander in chief. Trump used his visit to Al Asad Air Base to
amplify his call to draw down the US presence in foreign wars and assert his
personal influence over the military at a moment of tremendous turmoil at the
Pentagon.
After months of public pressure for him to spend time with troops deployed to
America’s endless wars in the Middle East and Central Asia, Trump touched down
at the joint US-Iraqi base west of Baghdad after a secret flight from
Washington. He sounded a triumphant note as he addressed US service members on
the day after Christmas:
"We’re no longer the suckers, folks,” he said. And he warned that he was
committed to withdrawing troops from foreign wars even when his administration’s
experts object. "The United States cannot continue to be the policeman of the
world. It’s not fair when the burden is all on us, the United States.” He,
however, said there are "no plans at all" to withdraw from Iraq!
Admittedly, somewhere over 60% of Americans, according to media opinion polls,
want all US troops out of Iraq. This is not just the "combat troops" which Trump
is not prepared to withdraw at a relatively stately pace. Combat troops
represent perhaps half of all US military personnel in Iraq - and neocons are
already attacking even their withdrawal as cut-and-run-ism, if not outright
treason.
Americans may not have noticed, but the policy that a large majority of them
want is no longer part of polite discussion in Washington where Trump’s one-man
foreign policy reigns supreme. Even the party of "withdrawal" (including Trump)
would still leave American troops behind for various activities. Trump says "US
forces will stay in Iraq and could re-enter Syria from there.” He forgot to
mention that these would include the "training" of the Iraqi military; troops
might be left to guard Washington’s monstrous new embassy in Baghdad; or as an
ISIL-oriented strike force; or even to protect American security contractors and
hired guns (running into the tens of thousands).
Hard as it is to separate the mechanics of facts from fiction, occupation of
Iraq was never about liberating people, fighting terror or training Iraqi
forces. It was a permanent draw-up, not a drawdown, to occupy the country and
wage war against its unfortunate neighbors, including, Trump says, against
Syria.
To that end, the Pentagon regime has been digging in. In the past few years, it
has continued to upgrade its massive bases in Iraq to the tune of billions of
dollars. It has brought in extra air power for an "air surge" possibly in Syria.
Little wonder Trump didn’t talk about drawing down that air surge, even though
there has recently been a spate of incidents in which Iraqi and Syrian civilians
have died from US airstrikes.
Admittedly, in the land the Bush regime claimed to have "liberated", the Trump
regime will continue to entrench occupying American forces on those mega-bases
for years to come. Trump is just an extension of Bush and Obama’s Iraq
occupation policies. Just like his predecessors, he will not negotiate anything
that might tie the hands of the next commander in chief, whomever he or she may
be.
All of this, in the grand tradition of War Party, means a permanent occupation
of Iraq and a permanent threat against its neighbors, with future planning for
draw-downs or withdrawals based on the need to preserve whatever the Americans
have brought - and are still bringing - into Iraq and the wider region.
At any rate, Trump’s undisclosed visit on December 26 served as further proof
that US occupying forces are not welcome and that the time for US
withdrawal from Iraq has long passed. The occupying regime is incapable of
"solving" Iraq's problems, "building" a nation there, or preventing an endless
string of horrific things from occurring. Lest we forget, it was under US
occupation and terror that Iraq devolved and massive ethnic cleansing by ISIL
occurred, destabilizing the entire planet.Source:FNA