Iraqi parliament sticks by resolution to boot out US forces

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
14 Jan 2024 21:51
29 Shares

Deputy parliament speaker Mohsen al-Mandalawi has urged the government to expel US troops.

Members of the Iraqi parliament raise their hands at the parliament's headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, on June 11, 2023. (AP)

Iraq's parliament has announced that it will stick to a resolution passed in January 2020, urging the Iraqi government to expel the US-led coalition forces from the country.

Deputy parliament speaker Mohsen al-Mandalawi said in a parliament session a day earlier that the resolution adopted four years ago to expel coalition forces is "a fundamental and irreversible piece of legislation," which will not be changed as it has the support of the Iraqi people and government. Al-Mandalawi called on the Iraqi government to put the resolution into action and to expand the capacities of the Iraqi security forces.

The comments were made after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani called for an agreement on a specific timeframe for the withdrawal of the US-led international coalition in Iraq, which "honestly" needs to be "quick".

The only solution

In an interview for Reuters, al-Sudani said, "Let's agree on a timeframe that is, honestly, quick, so that they don't remain long and the attacks keep happening."

Moreover, the Prime Minister explained that to avoid "more expansion of the arena of conflict in a sensitive region," the "devastating killing machine [in Gaza]" must be brought to an end and humanitarian aid must be delivered "as soon as possible."

Al-Sudani stressed that this "is the only solution".

US consistently violates Iraq's sovereignty

Earlier, the Iraqi Prime Minister emphasized the importance of remaining true to the promise of ending the presence of the US-led international coalition in Iraq.

In a speech commemorating the lives of "the leaders of victory," in reference to martyrs Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the Iraqi Premier affirmed Baghdad's "steadfast and principled position," which "is to end the presence of the (US-led) coalition, as it has overstayed its purported mission."

The United States redeployed a large force in Iraq, following an agreement with the Iraqi government, which mandated the US military to support the country in its fight against ISIS. Under a Combined Joint Task Force, dubbed "Operation Inherent Resolve," the US has maintained a large presence, including two airbases claiming to fight terrorism in the region.

However, the US has taken advantage of its presence, especially via its airbases, to illegally strike and terrorize its adversaries in the region. Al-Sudani's comments came just one day after the US military assassinated Hajj Moshtaq Taleb al-Saidi (Abou Taqwa), under the pretext of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) official's role in targeting US bases in the region, marking yet another violation of Iraqi sovereignty.