When will you leave the country? … Iraq demands and America procrastinates

When will you leave the country? … Iraq demands and America procrastinates

7-4-2024

Information/Baghdad…
Washington is still ignoring the Iraqi parliamentary decision and the government’s request to withdraw its forces and empty the military bases it occupies on Iraqi soil.

America invaded Iraq in 2003 and overthrew the defunct Baathist regime, and at that time deployed thousands of its soldiers in various regions. In 2008, Iraq and the United States concluded the Strategic Framework Agreement, based on which American forces withdrew at the end of 2011.

The American forces entered after the terrorist organization ISIS took control of large areas of Sunni areas in 2014, but they did not leave Iraq despite the many demands made by the government and the Iraqi parliament.

Since then, the American forces have committed many crimes against the Iraqi people. From time to time, they bomb Iraqi forces and assassinate national figures.

In early 2020, the Iraqi parliament decided to withdraw American and foreign forces from Iraq, and Baghdad has been seeking since then to arrange the withdrawal of American forces during the dialogue.

Although there was an Iraqi request submitted to Washington during Al-Sudani’s visit to the United States last April, the withdrawal schedule has not yet been set at a specific time.

Former member of the Security and Defense Committee, Ali Jabbar Al-Ghanimi, expressed his conviction that America is procrastinating regarding its exit from Iraq, pointing out that it is reneging on its withdrawal agreements.

Al-Ghanimi told Al-Maalouma Agency, “The government has clearly announced that it does not need a foreign coalition and is satisfied with the Iraqi forces and is ready to end this file, but until now we have not seen signs of this work,” calling on “the government to work more seriously to remove foreign forces from the country.”

He explained that “the American side entered Iraq and wants to stay indefinitely because it sees it as a fertile environment for implementing its policies as well as benefiting from its resources.”

He added, “The American threats, through its nominated ambassador and the US State Department, came to change the course of the dialogues to end the foreign presence and put pressure on the Iraqi government.”

Political and popular demands are escalating regarding ending the American presence in Iraq, especially with the United States’ participation in the war against the Palestinian people since October 7th until now.

This American procrastination has angered the Iraqi resistance factions, whose patience seems to be running out.

The Iraqi resistance factions met earlier and issued decisions regarding this matter.

The leader of the Fatah Alliance, Ali Al-Fatlawi, considered that the decisions of the resistance meeting are a message of announcing the end of the military presence of the United States of America and Turkey inside Iraqi territory.

Al-Fatlawi told Al-Maalouma Agency, “The Iraqi resistance factions confirmed their commitment to the deadline set for the government as an opportunity to negotiate with the American and Turkish sides to leave Iraq, indicating that “the four-month deadline was an opportunity for the government to work seriously to end the American and Turkish military presence from Iraqi territory.”

He added, “The insistence of the American and Turkish sides and their lack of seriousness in negotiating with the Iraqi government to schedule the military withdrawal from Iraq led to issuing an initial warning to grant a four-month period as an opportunity for the Americans and Turks to negotiate and set a timetable for the withdrawal of their forces from the country, but the issue of procrastination and delay still exists.”

He called on “the American and Turkish sides to work seriously with the government to end the presence of their forces, otherwise the hand of the resistance is capable of reaching their interests inside Iraq at any time and place.”

Four months ago, the Iraqi resistance announced a truce and a halt to its operations targeting military bases where American forces are present, in order to allow the Iraqi government to negotiate a schedule for the withdrawal of forces from Iraq.

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