Posted on 01/07/2020 5:37:59 AM PST by Kaslin
Fifteen years after the U.S. invaded Iraq to turn Saddam Hussein's dictatorship into a beacon of democracy, Iraq's Parliament, amid shouts of "Death to America!" voted to expel all U.S. troops from the country.
Though non-binding, the expulsion vote came after mobs trashed the U.S. embassy in an assault that recalled Tehran 1979.
What provoked Iraq's Parliament into demanding the ouster of all U.S. troops?
First, the five December U.S. strikes on Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces in retaliation for a dozen Kataib Hezbollah rocket attacks on U.S. bases, which killed a contractor and wounded four U.S. soldiers.
Then came President Donald Trump's decision to launch a drone-strike and kill Iranian General Qassem Soleimani at Baghdad International Airport. Killed in the same strike was the Shiite Iraqi leader of Kataib Hezbollah.
During his return flight to Washington Sunday, Trump warned Iraq: Follow through on your demand that all U.S. troops get out, and we will insist that Baghdad repay the money we just spent on a major air base.
Moreover, said Trump, if Iraqis expel U.S. troops, then we will impose upon them "sanctions like they've never seen before, ever. It'll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame."
Where do we stand now in Iraq?
Though Sunnis and Kurds abstained, the Iraqi parliament has voted to expel all our troops. The State Department has urged U.S. civilians to flee Iraq. 82nd Airborne units have moved into the region to protect the U.S. embassy. U.S. troops fighting ISIS alongside Iraqi troops have separated themselves and stood down. In Iraq, the war on terrorism is on hold.
Across the Middle East, U.S. diplomats, soldiers and civilians are on alert. The acting prime minister of Iraq, in an echo of Tehran and radical Shiites, is demanding that all 5,200 U.S. soldiers in Iraq depart.
How can our troops, detested by the PMF militias and their thousands of fighters, unwanted by the Iraqi Parliament majority, the acting prime minister, and much of the Shiite majority, remain safely inside the capital city of Baghdad or the country?
What a difference a presidential decision can make.
Two months ago, crowds were in the streets of Iraq protesting Iran's dominance of their politics. Crowds were in the streets of Iran cursing that regime for squandering the nation's resources on imperial adventures in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen. Things were going America's way.
Now it is the Americans who are the targets of protests.
Over three days, crowds numbering in the hundreds of thousands and even millions have packed Iraqi and Iranian streets and squares to pay tribute to Soleimani and to curse the Americans who killed him.
As emotions are running high and America's friends in the region are mute, the twin goals of Iran and its militia allies appear clear:
Tehran wants to avoid a war with the United States, but to direct the passions of the moment toward forcing an expulsion of the Americans from the Middle East, beginning with their ouster from Iraq.
Thus, Tehran has signaled that its retaliation, its revenge for the death of Soleimani, a military man, will be proportionate. Tehran is telegraphing an attack on the U.S. military. Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah in Lebanon, has called on his followers not to attack innocent Americans in the region but to zero in on U.S. military targets.
Oddly, what the America-haters of the Middle East seek is what Soleimani wanted, and what Trump promised in his campaign of 2016 -- an end to U.S. involvement in the forever wars of the Middle East.
Perhaps, rather than sending troops into Iraq and Kuwait to defend U.S. troops already there, we should accede to the local nationalist demands, start bringing our troops home, and let Iranians, Iraqis, Libyans, Syrians, Yemenis and Afghans settle their quarrels.
Despite the rage in Iran over the killing of Soleimani, the political imperatives that existed before last Friday's drone strike remain.
Iran does not want war with the United States. And Trump wants no war with Iran.
But Iran made a mistake in its extrapolation from that truth.
Assuming that because Trump did not want war, he would recoil from a fight, Soleimani believed he could kill Americans with impunity, as long as his fingerprints were not on the murder weapon.
Killing Soleimani was just. But what is just is not always wise.
Yet, his killing restores Trump's credibility as a Jacksonian who avoids wars but who, wounded, will stab the enemy who cut him.
Trump has a red line. It is not shooting at American drones but shooting at American soldiers, the drawing of American blood.
The message the rulers of Iran should have received?
If they retaliate for Soleimani by killing American soldiers, diplomats or civilians, using either Iranian troops or proxy militias, Trump will retaliate against Iran itself.
Otherwise, "Come Home, America," George McGovern's slogan from the 1972 presidential campaign, has rarely seemed more relevant.
I’m about 50-50 on agreeing with Pat Buchanan. I agree with him here 100%.
And yet again Buchanan is right for all the wrong reasons.
Yes, get out of Iraq. Hell, we never should have gone in in the first place.
L
Need to add Afghanistan to the list.
Throw in any place in Africa.
Let the locals go back to killing each other as they’ve done for centuries.
The Indians can take care of the Paki’s, the Israelis can deal with the Muzzies, and the Paraguayans can settle old scores with the Chileans.
All of this can be done without us getting our hands dirty.
Has the identity of the defense contractor ever been given?
Agreed. The American military isn’t supposed to be some kind of International Armed and Dangerous Pizza Guy. We suck at “nation building”.
Only 2 countries I can think of were ever good at it. Britain comes in second place and the Roman Empire owns the Number 1 spot. Since we are entirely unwilling to go Roman on them we should get the **** out.
If someone hits us we should hit back three times as hard specifically targeting the leadership of whatever rat hole country effed with us. Smash their infrastructure into rubble, destroy their military assets, and then leave.
Just leave. Not one nickel for rebuilding. Let them deal with the civilian population that’s borne the brunt of no electricity, running water, or economic activity.
L
>>We suck at “nation building”.
We were pretty good at it. Look at Germany and Japan.
Of course, you have to be willing to eradicate the underlying toxic ideology to start . . .
I haven’t seen much Pat Buchanan on FR for a while.
Nevertheless, go Pat go!
I haven’t seen much Pat Buchanan on FR for a while.
Nevertheless, go Pat go!
Of course, you have to be willing to eradicate the underlying toxic ideology to start . . .
...................................................
BINGO!
You summed it up nicely.
The problem is Iraq is next door to Iran. It’s always going to be more important to them than it is to us.
Tehran wants to avoid a war with the United States, but to direct the passions of the moment toward forcing an expulsion of the Americans from the Middle East, beginning with their ouster from Iraq.
Those might be the ultimate goals of Iran but more immediate must be a real need on the part of that regime to ease the sanctions.
Iran has embarked on a course of ratcheting up attacks against America others assets and allies for which, up until the murder of an American by rocket fire, Trump has refrained from retaliating. But the death of Sulaiman clearly provokes Iran for revenge and, for internal political requirements, that revenge must be very public. Expecting that sort of action on the part of Iran, Trump has warned them of significant airstrikes in that country, no doubt involving infrastructure as well as military, political and cultural targets.
Despite the agitation on the streets that Buchanan has described, I believe Trump is in a position he likes. If Iran gives him an excuse he will bomb the Iranian nuclear sites. Our bunker busters might not be potent enough to destroy these sites entirely, but he might be able to seal them shut.
Strikes against Iranian infrastructure such as water, power and petroleum might well bring down the regime as many Iranians who like the Iraqis have been in the streets and are eager to overthrow the mullahs.
We shall see.
We suck at “nation building”.
Only 2 countries I can think of were ever good at it. Britain comes in second place and the Roman Empire owns the Number 1 spot. Since we are entirely unwilling to go Roman on them we should get the **** out.
+++++
I’m not quite ready to say we should pull out of the Middle East. But your “nation building” comment caught my eye. You are absolutely spot on with that claim. In both cases wars were fought but real civilization did emerge. The track record for the U.S. suffers in comparison.
No president wants to be known as the president who “lost” Iraq. So we stay, year after year.
However, the Iraqis have just presented Trump with a great gift. He can leave, and not be blamed for what will follow. After all, it was their choice, not his.
Seize this opportunity, Mr. Trump.
Nothing is the Middle East is of national security interest to the US other than one thing. Iran must not be able to have a nuclear weapon because it will be directed at us. Syria, Libya, Yemen, Iraq are of no security interest to us if we leave the Middle East but Iran with nukes will always be a national security threat to us. We should only be focused on that one objective and let the shia and sunnis kill each other.
Calm down Pat. The ENTIRE REASON for standing up to Iran is so we can finally leave, without creating a catastrophe, as we did when leaving Southeast Asia in the 1970s.
At this point, I suspect that Trump is waiting for one more provocation, and then he’s going to wipe out Iran’s leadership and their nuke program.
...and then he’ll pull out. All will be fine.
All regular forces should get out.
Leave a skeleton force but Full CIA,, full air support, keep the air base open in Bagdhad,full drones, full SOG capability, and arm the Sunni militias with all our latest toys.
Everyone else. Come home to Mama!
We can hit Iran with air anytime we want.We can allow te Sunnis to chew the Shia militias into oblivion with SOG directed air support. And we can ask the Saudis to pay for it becais ewe are protecting Mecca.
The "vote" yesterday was by the Iranians infesting the Iraqi government. It was as much of a sham as the Democrats "impeachment inquiry" and subsequent charges against President Trump.
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