Iraq-US Talks in the Shadow of ISIS' Revival

EXCLUSIVE BY NOURNEWS

ISIS' resurgence in various parts of Iraq in recent months, which has been relatively large-scale, and according to previous records, the US cooperation and management of this group has greatly strengthened the suspicion that the new terrorist acts that are directed by Takfiri terrorists are here to justify the US military presence in Iraq.

NOURNEWS - According to the announced program, strategic talks between Iraq and the United States will begin in Baghdad in the middle of this month (about 14 days from now).

Although the new Iraqi government has not yet appointed members of the country's negotiating team, it is said that Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazemi is trying to introduce his proposed foreign minister to parliament and receiving a vote of confidence, so the head of the Iraqi negotiating team might be handed to him.

US government has already named Deputy Secretary of State David Hale as its chief negotiator.

According to recent remarks by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the recent interview of the US Ambassador to Baghdad, strategic talks will not only focus on security and military issues, but also on political, economic and even cultural issues in long-term relations.

In 2008, during the presidency of Nouri al-Maliki, similar talks took place between Baghdad and Washington, which led to the gradual withdrawal of US troops from Iraq in 2011.

Although Iraqi officials have not yet commented on the agenda for strategic talks with the United States, it will soon be clear what will be the focus of talks between Baghdad and Washington after the Iraqi negotiating team is appointed.

In the meantime; U.S. officials are well aware of the fact that the majority of politicians in various segments of Iraq are calling for a reduction in relations with the United States, especially the rapid withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, as determined by a parliamentary resolution.

Naturally, this approach, which is also supported by the overwhelming majority of the Iraqi people, is the main obstacle to the advancement of the talks that the Americans expect to establish and strengthen their comprehensive and long-term presence in Iraq.

The most important event and excuse that could justify the continued presence of the United States in Iraq and strengthen the small number of Iraqi politicians who support close cooperation with the United States is the fight against terrorism and US participation in Iraqi security.

According to inviolable documents, the US government and its allies, who are in a military coalition to fight terrorism in Iraq, have in recent years taken the path of "managing terrorism" in the region, including in Iraq, instead of seriously fighting ISIS, they have used this lever to increase political, security, economic and social pressures on the countries of the region.

ISIS' resurgence in various parts of Iraq in recent months, which has been relatively large-scale, and according to previous records, the US cooperation and management of this group has greatly strengthened the suspicion that the new terrorist acts that are directed by Takfiri terrorists are here to justify the US military presence in Iraq.

The rise of terrorist acts on the eve of the Baghdad-Washington strategic talks is not something that can be analyzed in the context of the "accident theory".

According to reliable sources, a comparison of ISIS' terrorist activities in the first four months of 2019 with the same period in 2020 shows a 44 percent increase.

According to this report; In the past few months, 96 Iraqi military and security forces have been killed in the operation carried out by ISIS, and about half of them, 48 ISIS members, have been killed.

However, despite the Iraqi parliament's decision to withdraw foreign troops from the country, these forces, most of whom are Americans, are still present in various parts of Iraq, but in practice, they have taken no specific action to prevent the resurgence of terrorist groups, especially ISIS.

Although there is no denying the existence of powerful politicians in the Iraqi governing body who are interested in having extensive relations with the United States, it seems that given the Iraqi supreme authority's approach, which has always emphasized the protection of Iraqi sovereignty and independence, The country and the decisive role of the People's Resistance Forces and the Popular Mobilization Units in securing the country, the Americans did not have much chance to lead the strategic dialogue process between the two countries to strengthen and stabilize their presence in Iraq, and Washington's political, security, economic and social measures in Iraq cannot find better conditions than the outcome of the 2008 talks that led to the US withdrawal from the country.