Former Iraqi PM urges Baghdad to demand clear exit date from US

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
11 Feb 2024 10:56
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Adel Abdul-Mahdi is urging Baghdad to take a more decisive stance in ending the United States' presence in Iraq.

US Army soldiers at an air base northwest of Kirkuk in northern Iraq in 2021. (AFP via Getty Images)

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi calls on Baghdad to take a more decisive stance in bringing an end to the United States' presence in Iraq.

These remarks were made during an interview for Iran's Arabic-language television news network Al-Alam TV on Saturday.

"The Iraqi government should adopt a clear and simple position, and announce to America the end of its mission on a certain date," he said.

"American forces came to Iraq [in the first place] in line with a decision made by the Iraqi government, and now [too], they should leave as per the Iraqi government's notification," Abdul-Mahdi said.

Twenty-one years ago, former US President George Bush fabricated a lie claiming that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and launched a UK-backed “shock and awe” invasion and war on Iraq on March 20, 2003.

Weeks later, on May 1, Bush declared that the "mission" was accomplished. However, the US-led war was in fact far from over. Weapons of mass destruction never existed, and destruction was all that the US inflicted on Iraq, with its repercussions still evident up to this very day in 2024.

Over one million Iraqis have been killed as a consequence of the US-led invasion, as revealed by research conducted by Opinion Research Business (ORB), one of Britain's leading polling groups, in 2008.

'The US is killing Iraqis'

Iraq’s nightmare is far from over. In 2014, the United States, along with numerous allies, resumed a military campaign in Iraq, citing the fight against ISIS as a pretext. The emergence of the group in Iraq and Syria provided Washington with an opportunity to extend its meddling in the West Asia region. The US military announced the conclusion of its combat mission in Iraq in 2021, retaining around 2,500 troops in the country, purportedly as advisors. However, Baghdad and its allies had already achieved a decisive victory against the terrorist organization by late 2017.

During Abdul-Mahdi's term as prime minister, the US carried out a drone strike authorized by former US President Donald Trump targeting a car transporting the commander of al-Quds Force of the IRGC General Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi trench-mate and the second-in-command of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis on January 3, 2020.

After the assassination, the Iraqi Parliament passed legislation requiring the withdrawal of all foreign forces from the country. Abdul-Mahdi pointed out that this legislative action was taken because his government was in an interim position at the time. Presently, there is no requirement for either the United Nations Security Council or the parliament to intervene, as the Iraqi government now has the authority to independently expel the forces due to its inclusive jurisdiction.

"The Americans came to [supposedly] support the Iraqis, and now they are killing them," stressed the ex-premier.

It is worth noting that the US military revealed conducting a drone strike in the eastern part of the Iraqi capital last Wednesday, resulting in the death of three Iraqis, including a high-ranking commander of the Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah Resistance group, a significant faction within the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). The recent US airstrikes against the country have so far killed at least 16 people, as per the Iraqi government.

The big picture

Anti-US sentiment in the region has been on the rise lately, particularly since "Israel" launched a genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza, which has received unconditional support from the US.

As a result of this, Resistance groups across the region have been systematically targeting Israeli-affiliated entities, including US bases in Iraq.

Subsequent US response to Resistance groups has compromised Iraq's security, thus compelling the Iraqi government to demand their withdrawal.

An initial round of talks commenced on January 27 but was promptly halted after a drone attack claimed the lives of three US military personnel at a base in Jordan the following day. In response, the US conducted several strikes targeting Iraq and Syria.

Last month, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that Washington and Baghdad would initiate working group meetings concerning the future of the US military presence in the country.

The Pentagon later clarified that the establishment of the Commission did not signify the commencement of negotiations between the two countries regarding the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.