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On January 5th, US President Donald Trump threatened Iraq with “very big sanctions” if its parliament voted to expel all US troops from the country.
Trump said if Iraq asked US forces to leave and it was not done on a friendly basis, “we will charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before ever. It’ll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame.”
“We have a very extraordinarily expensive airbase that’s there. It cost billions of dollars to build, long before my time. We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it,” Trump said.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi told lawmakers that a timetable for the withdrawal of all foreign troops, including those from the U.S., was required “for the sake of our national sovereignty.”
On the same day, the Iraqi parliament voted a non-binding resolution to end a 2014 agreement that allows Washington to send troops to Iraq to help in the fight against ISIS.
“The government commits to revoke its request for assistance from the international coalition fighting ‘Islamic State’ due to the end of military operations in Iraq and the achievement of victory,” the resolution read.
“The Iraqi government must work to end the presence of any foreign troops on Iraqi soil and prohibit them from using its land, airspace or water for any reason.”
Immediately following the decision, the US State Department released a statement on the matter:
“We strongly urge Iraqi leaders to reconsider the importance of the ongoing economic and security relationship between the two countries and the continued presence of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS,” it read.
“We believe it is in the shared interests of the United States and Iraq to continue fighting ISIS together,” and that the US is still “committed to a sovereign, stable, and prosperous Iraq.”
Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has called for a more substantial response to the killing.
“I consider this a weak response, insufficient against American violation of Iraqi sovereignty and regional escalation,” said al-Sadr.
The US ambassador to Iraq, Matthew Tueller was summoned by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.
“[The airstrikes] were a blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty,” Iraq’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday. They “contradict the agreed-upon missions of the international coalition.”
In addition, the Foreign Ministry lodged an official complaint in the UN.
The complaint mentions “American attacks and aggression on Iraqi military positions and the assassination of Iraqi and allied high-level military commanders on Iraqi soil.”
The current US presence in Iraq numbers approximately 5,200 troops, which the Iraqi Parliament voted to expel, it now all depends on whether the government ratifies the decision and puts it into force.
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Trump is a totally Zionist owned bombastic narcissist and his thuggish statements will only create regional resistance as it just confirms that the invasion of Iraq was all about oil and the continued plunder of Arab natural resources.
I wonder if America will actually leave..
when they are ready to leave – and iraq can’t do much about it.
Unfortunately, you are correct, no occupying army in history has ever left voluntarily. Palestine is a classical modern example. I beggars belief that Iran is challenging the US without nuclear weapons, Mr. Saddam Husain and Colonel Kaddafi made similar mistakes and now Mr.Khamenei needs to reevaluate Iran’s ban on the development of nuclear weapons if it aims to survive the oncoming US onslaught. It is quite obvious that US will attack Iran, sooner than later.
Things are not so simple and straightforward. It is not so easy for bankrupted empire to create the danger of sky rocketing oil prices by starting that war. It will most definitely collapse US and after that world economy.
Situation (false flag?) has to force US hand to start extremely unpopular war (in US population) and extremely dangerous war for US economy.
Bilderberg corporations need wars to profit. US has enough shale oil and in any case they control Iraqi, Saudi and Libyan oil and can also ramp up Canadian tarsands.
You are maybe ill informed on”US shale oil” They are all very close to total bankruptcy despite more than generous loans
US does not “control” Iraq. That is only illusion since true insurgency did not even start yet. Libyan oil has problem with war and the same can happen to Iraq oil very quickly. Iraq is on brink of total civil war that will start hell braking loos in the region
Appearance is everything. I believe the US permanent Govt is ready for this, eager for it.
Appearance is everything in the world of appearance. In Hollywood and US in general. But in the real world appearance is often not enough. US Govt may be “ready” or maybe they only think they are “ready” or give that impression. Only time will tell.. But one thing is sure, they are not “eager”.
No Arab oil in case of war. It has to rely just in all Americas Oil.
‘Germany Still Occupied By US After 58 Years.’ https://hellenicnews.com/germany-still-occupied-us-58-years-christopher-bollyn-9-11-4/
Sadly there is from a historical perspective no peaceful way out of the occupation by the USraHell empire…
Yes still occupied, if Russia had the nukes in WW11 it has today, Germany would only be a reference in history books, big pity that.
Well the victors from the west didn’t need nukes – they achieved in Dresden in two nights phosphorus bombing from the 17 to the 19 of Feb 1945 – 120000 to 240000 dead civilians, which was more then Hiroshima. Since it happend just 6 days after Yalta, in which the zoning of Germany was agreed on, it was clear to the British and the Americans that Dresden would be part of the Russian zone and therefore it was incinerated by firestorms. ( If you like to read page 39 ): https://www.resist.com/Onlinebooks/StateSecrets-Poncins.pdf
So don’t come with any bullshit about the ‘good’ Americans and their ‘good’ Morgenthau Plan and their chivalrous treetment of German soldiers after capitulation in the Rhine Meadow Camps: https://ww2gravestone.com/an-american-rhine-meadows-camp-guard-speaks-out/ ‘Canadian writer James Bacque claimed in his 1989 book Other Losses that the number is likely in the hundreds of thousands, and may be as high as 1,000,000…’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheinwiesenlager Morgenthau’s executed plan, was as bad as the mass rapes and slave labour of the Russians, and the French…
they will never leave they will bring isis back to life .
we are going. A lot of us are fed up with this s h i t, been fed up a long time. We have needed to get out of places like Iraq and start treating countries like Iran with dignity for a long time. There is no appetite for war in the US over this stuff. It is just the Deep State, created by the British, that keeps rolling on. It is tragic comedy on a ghastly scale in my view. We are leaving, it is what the people of Iraq have decided. We don’t have a choice.
I thought the US is there to bring democarthy and peace? Isn’t it a vital part of democrathy to decide which troops to house in country? Looks like the lies expose themselves now and all world see the real face of US.
US historically, like all bullies and imperialist powers only attacks the weakest by first building coalitions with other predatory vassal European peon states and by extensively isolating and weakening the victims by sanctions. This is the time for other independent states to stand by and support Iran. The British and Europeans colonized India, China and Africa by using similar tactics, only the century has changed the imperialist tactics have not.
MAGA or MAFIA!?
Make America Great Again, or Make America Fight Iran Again?
The USA threatening with sanctions!?! What an original approach of them to handle matters…. Nope, I really didn’t see that one coming….
I’ll take 48 hours to depart from Iraq…
They’ll roll up into Iraqi “Kurdistan”.
Yep. Then we’ll have to support that ‘democratic desire’ to secede from Iraq. That idea is no good in Ukraine, but this isn’t Ukraine, is it? Yeah, I think you just hit the jackpot.
The Donald is such a child.
They are the invaders, they are the ISIS. Kick them up and ISIS goes for good.
Once shit hit the fan, it will be a.good time.to bitch slap the barzani kurds, they have been phillibusting iraqi progress for long enough now.
The cia.drug trade uses erbil as a transit hub, shut that down and watch them squirmm.
Good points, did the contractor at K1 get caught in the illegal act of rerouting Iraqi oil up to Turkey, and this whole episode is just a cover-up for that. The Barzani Kurds are prime suspects in a case that needs to be investigated. “Kurdistan” will be resurrected as a ‘safe space’ for US forces “leaving”. Iraq needs to reassert its sovereignty over all of Iraq.
Trump still thinks sanctions are working on Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, EU, etc. But actually they are not. That’s why rebel generals in Pentagon decided to start wars with Iraq & Iran by killing their generals. Sanctions are not working & never worked.
It sure is easy to go from US ally to sanctioned enemy. All it takes is to make a decision on your own.
Another nation the US will sanction, that will merge with all the other nations, including Russia, China and Iran, and work against the interests of the $US.
Never heard of ‘sanction flatulence’ then along came Trump. Trump by name, Trump by nature.
Must admit, and completely ignoring the ‘pay to posts’ of the Integrity Initiative, NED, Atlantic Council crowd, plus others, that are flocking to the MSM comments sections. Somebody is paying a lot of money, for war. There again, didn’t the Pentagon provide Bell Pottinger with at least $500 million to spin the Iraq War, back in 2003?
What has completely sizzled my brains, is the stupidity of Trump. The US public were sick and tired of the Dems Impeachment Script and could read through it. Together with the fact, Trump had done nothing wrong, concerning Ukraine and Impeachment. Plus, you had Burisma Holdings and Atlantic Council, in the spotlight, for dodgy dealings.
So why, did the idiot decide it would be a good look to take out an Iranian General, invited by Iraq, to attend the state funeral of the Iraq Soldiers, that were taken out by the guests of Iraq, the US, just before New Years Eve. Not just, that the Iranian General was in Iraq to attend a state funeral, but, also, the US wanted him in Iraq, to take back a message, allegedly concerning de-esculation of sanctions. So who was the mercenary that Iran took out, who happened to have US citizenship, whilst carrying out war games? Why was his life so important, that the US used it as a flimsy excuse to take out the Iraq Forces, on sovereign territory and then complain when the people of Iraq protested outside the US Embassy? Not forgetting, did the US or international community complain when Ukraine did similar and worse to the Russian Embassy and the US forced entry into the Russian Embassy in San Francisco? So why does the US freak out, when one of it’s own Embassies are targeted?
Now, if Trump was so worried about being impeached for something un-impeachable, why did he then rush into carry out a war crime? Together with a declaration of war on both Iran and Iraq, with no authority to do so. Something that he could legitamately be impeached for. Or even find himself answering charges in The Hague, or similar establishment, running somewhere else, on the planet and without US control.
I’ll give you my take on this shit. Trump is playing to his base that are in effect Zionist themselves. Yes, there are those that wanted what Trump ran on, bring troops home, nice with Russia and rebuild the US. The vast unyielding majority of NASCAR trailer dwellers and evangelists are his real base. They don’t even realize they are Zionists(the NASCARS, at any rate), but when you hear them rant about Muslims and foreigners in general, it sinks in. I do understand when people try to relate to Trump and this fiasco and say they do not understand why he did this and now. It’s election year…Iran the boogie man demands he support angelic Israel and make the worst terrorists in the world suffer. After all, they’ve killed or been responsible for many US deaths, created ISIS and supported them. This was Trumps latest tirade. Also, it should not be forgotten that the US is on an eternal the Muslims did 9/11 campaign foisted and maintained by the Zionist media (now Pense is saying that Soleimani was part of the Afghanistan 9/11 plot). As ridiculous as that is, Americans will fall for it. All of which means that Iran IS evil, Nutsack is right, Iran is going to make nukes and they need to be stopped now(never mind Trump dropped the JCPOA). Do not underestimate the power of the paranoid liars when they rant about a nuclear ‘radical’ Muslim nation. Should Trump become involved in war, that too is to his advantage, although it would seem a contradiction. Trump wants peace and to bring troops home, which can only be accomplished by destroying the enemy (ISIS=Iran) and creating peace (remember, ISIS is resurging). If you think this is crazy, you’re right, but it is what it is…but remember, this was Trump position from before his election. Surely people have heard of the old adage, ‘never change ships midstream’? This is also another good ole US tradition, as it was used by pro-BushCo supporters in ’04…and this was the man who couldn’t walk down Pennsylvania Ave on inauguration day. But it will serve Trump as well. The US gov, not the will of the people, will embrace war with Iran, saying that it was inevitable and best done now before they become a nuclear power. The people, in such an event, will give these bastards the benefit of the doubt, as they will be assailed by the media with conclusions from ‘experts’ that it is all necessary now, not later(the reason they floated the ‘pre-emptive’ strike). Does this refrain sound familiar? Of course…it’s the only refrain heard in regard to Iran. But let there be no doubt, the idiots in the US who still believe Muslims perpetrated 9/11…and there are a lot, will swallow this whole story hook, line and sinker. Is this political suicide by the Don? No, this is double-down. If Trump were to be impeached and convicted over this (extremely unlikely), they would fall back to Pense…who is arguably much worse. Where is the downside for them? Oh…as for the Hague, they could give a shit. Neither the US or Israel are signed on to it. Gee, I wonder why?
There are a lot of ‘pay to post’ trolls out there, but, what seriously gave me faith, was seeing the protests that are springing up. Where the people of the US are stating they do not want war with Iran. I hope they grow.
Enjoyed seeing the UK Vets, also protesting and stating they have no desire for war with Iran. Again, hope the protests grow and we never forget the lies that led us into the Iraq War, back in 2003.
Yes, the people in the US do not want war with Iran, but going by the US media, you would never know it. It is the realization of the effect on the economy that is the main driver. Those that are demonstrating over this are going to be targeted, you can bet on that, as their objections are moral, not economic. Since I do not watch US MSM at all, I can’t really comment on the coverage as such, although I can’t see them widely covering this…unless they portray demonstrations as pro-Muslim, radical…or their very favorite…anti-semitic. They have done every dirty trick to keep the image of US military objecting to these provocations off the tube and out of the papers. But. yes, it seems people are starting to be more vocal. Too bad this doesn’t translate to less support for Trump. Seems the Trumpets are still blowing his horn. It’s all a contradiction, but that doesn’t matter over here.
As is usual, reporting here is suspect. Yes, CNN shows there were @ 70 protests nationwide, the images showing relatively very few in attendance…the largest reportedly @500, smallest @60. I will have closer look to see if this is an accurate representation. I might mention that it is accepted that Iran was responsible for the American contractors death as a matter of fact…justifying Trump. This is an example of the slant Trump is going for…exactly as I thought… Trump statement: President Donald Trump has denied accusations that the killing was designed to start a war with Iran. “We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war,” he said Friday. This is of course a take off on the Israeli policy of ‘pre-emptive strikes’.
It is the same in the UK, with regards media trying to dictate events. Whilst demanding war. Fewer and fewer believe the spin they have been using for decades.
You hit it spot on, about the “US contractor”, who still remains unnamed. See my comment to Concrete Mike.
I’m not convinced that Trump did order this assassination, he normally tweeted any ‘bold and brave’ action he made or was about to make. In this case the Pentagon issued a statement saying he had given the order. His tweet was an American flag. This will cost him the election, unless a “state of war” is declared, and they seem to be rushing events to that goal.
Florian said the same and it so makes sense. Trump gets the credit for it, but, it was similar to the USS Liberty, where the neighbours were causing trouble to blame others, with the US President fully supportive of the troublesome neighbours.
No doubt there will be a major false flag and will they decide on how to implement it, over in Davos, when Trump meets his dining partners, on the 21st January?
Pompeo and Graham, were exceedingly excited and why is Pompeo on tour, taking in nations that border the Caspian Sea (where no foreign forces are allowed) and nations that neighbour Russia?
Then you have the timing, when the media were focused on the fake impeachment and those involved with Burisma Holdings and Atlantic Council bonuses. Now, Rudi has no audience, with regards Ukraine, Dems and Burisma Holdings and Trump, scared of a fake impeachment, has gone full steam ahead down the war crime route and finding something to be impeached for, that is legal.
Veteran’s Today and Fort Russ, both have articles, which state the Iranian General was on a Diplomatic mission, besides being invited to attend the funeral of the soldiers, plus, provided with assurances, from the US to lure him into a sense of false security and reason to go to Iraq.