The Iraqi prime minister is caught between allied pressure and US appeasement
The Iraqi prime minister is caught between allied pressure and US appeasement
12-27-2022
Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani is facing pressure from some forces within the coordination framework to reconsider the strategic framework agreement with the United States, at a time when the latter is trying to maintain good relations with the American administration and avoid any tremors with it.
Iraq and the United States signed a strategic framework agreement in 2008, which included a number of axes, including regulating the presence of US forces in the country, in addition to provisions related to strengthening cooperation in various economic, cultural and political fields.
And after the killing of the commander of the Quds Force, the external wing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Qassem Soleimani, and the deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Forces, Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, in an American strike in Baghdad in early 2020, the Iraqi parliament, under pressure from Shiite forces and factions loyal to Iran, issued a resolution obligating the Baghdad government to withdraw the American forces deployed in the country. Within the framework of an international coalition to combat the Islamic State.
Pro-Iranian Shiite forces are trying to take advantage of the existence of a pro-government government to put pressure on the removal of all US forces from Iraq
Indeed, the Al-Kazemi government reached a consensus about a year ago regarding the withdrawal of US forces from the country, and the transfer of the remaining ones to tasks with an advisory and training dimension, in a move that sparked widespread controversy in the Iraqi arena, and rejection by the Shiite forces.
Today, some Shiite forces are trying to take advantage of the presence of a loyal government to pressure the expulsion of all American forces, in a move that observers say would affect the relationship between the two countries, which is what the current Iraqi prime minister is trying to avoid.
The leader in the coordination framework, Turki Al-Atbi, called for the need to reconsider the strategic framework agreement with Washington. Al-Atbi said in a press statement, “In light of the challenges and painful events that Iraq has gone through during the past years, it has become necessary to reconsider the strategic framework agreement with Washington, which did not achieve any of its general goals, and Iraq is directly affected by it.”
Al-Atbi added, “We have five important observations regarding the provisions of the strategic agreement, the most prominent of which is Washington’s exploitation of some of its provisions in flying military aircraft without any inspection, which means a major security problem that must be paid attention to, in addition to issues related to the economy, money, and repeated violations of aircraft and drones and their bombing of targets in depth.”
The leader in the framework that represents the political umbrella of the Sudanese government indicated that “Iraq’s current situation requires a revision of all agreements with the United States and others and making them according to a path that serves national security and directly preserves its sovereignty.”
The demands of leaders in the coordination framework to reconsider the American presence come with the return of attacks attributed to ISIS. Since the beginning of this December, seven attacks have been recorded on Iraqi security forces in the regions of Kirkuk, Diyala and Tarmiya, killing nineteen people and wounding fifteen others.
Observers of Iraqi affairs rule out the success of the current pressures in pushing the Iraqi prime minister to go towards reconsidering the strategic framework agreement, or working to end the US military presence, especially since he realizes the extent of Iraq’s need for US support, both on the security and even political level.
Al-Sudani stresses the importance of continuing joint work, especially in the field of advising and training the Iraqi forces, which are fighting the confrontation against terrorism effectively and professionally.
Observers point out that Al-Sudani will try to convince the forces objecting to the American presence of the need to postpone the opening of this file, at least in the foreseeable future, and to focus on priority issues at the internal level.
The Iraqi Prime Minister, who also holds the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, stressed the importance of cooperation and coordination with the United States earlier this month, during his meeting with the Commander of the US Central Command, General Michael Korella.
During the meeting, Al-Sudani stressed “the importance of continuing joint work, especially in the field of providing advice and training to the Iraqi forces, which are fighting the confrontation against terrorism effectively and professionally,” stressing that “the Iraqi forces are determined to continue working in order to stabilize stability and preserve the successes achieved in the war on terrorism.” “.
The number of American forces in Iraq is estimated at about two thousand soldiers, deployed in three main locations, which are the “Ain al-Assad” base, located 130 km from the city of Ramadi, the center of Anbar Governorate, in western Iraq, and the “Victoria” camp, adjacent to Baghdad International Airport, which There is a mission and intelligence analysis unit in it, along with the “Harir” base, located north of Erbil, in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.
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