Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Geopolitical implications of US’s latest attack on Iraq and Syria

Crescent International

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi was quick in his condemnation of the latest US military aggression against his country.

It is another significant manifestation of America’s geopolitical defeat in West Asia.

The latest US military aggression which killed four Iraqi citizens involved in fighting takfiri terrorists is nothing but a desperate attempt by a decaying empire to appear relevant.

Even though the US invaded Iraq in 2003, spent trillions of dollars, condemnation by the pro-West Iraqi prime minister is a clear sign that Washington does not have a political grip on Iraq.

In many locales in West Asia where the US has significant political and military presence, the state apparatus of that country is by default pro-American and pro-Zionist.

Not so in Iraq.

The reason behind al-Kadhimi’s condemnation is not his anti-imperialist position, but the fact that an Islamic socio-political organization, the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), have vast popular support in Iraq along with political and military power.

Al-Kadhimi knows that if he crosses the PMU redline, he will not last in power.

This is quite an achievement for a region infested with US backed dictators who brutalize their citizens to safeguard American interests.

Washington’s latest aggression on Iraq should be viewed in a slightly different context.

This was the Biden regime’s response to PMU’s massive military parade on June 26.

The military parade was a political humiliation for the US empire’s disastrous policies in West Asia.

It highlighted Islamic Iran’s political influence and the weight of anti-imperialist Islamic forces within Iraq’s socio-political landscape.

While the US has some political leverage inside Iraq, such influence is confined to the elite and not based on popular support.

Sure, there are political blocs and organizations in Iraq that peddle Washington’s agenda.

However, there are no mass socio-political movements in Iraq or elsewhere in the Muslim world which would openly peddle pro-Americanism.

In geopolitical terms, PMU’s massive presence in Iraq is a sign of a new political reality in West Asia.

This reality is even more striking since anti-US imperialism is not a fringe political trend, but a mainstream narrative.

This development once again highlights the fact that the US is no longer the lone hegemon in the region it once comfortably dominated.

Immediately after the Islamic resistance forces in Iraq and Syria were attacked, US occupation forces in Syria came under retaliatory strikes, indicating that the US has lost its deterrence.

Thus, in the near to medium terms, the US will face far greater pushback than has hitherto been the case.

Washington is no longer a privileged player in West Asia.

As it continues to hype-up tensions with Russia and China, its interests in West Asia will come under greater pressure.

Beijing and Moscow realize that the US has entangled itself into myriads of conflicts in the Muslim world where it faces unfavorable social and political conditions.

Naturally, Russia and China will exploit these to further undermine Washington’s declining influence.

The people of West Asia will and should use this development to end US domination.

The key question that Muslim countries must think about is how to avoid being used as pawns in US-instigated tensions with China and Russia.

IraqPopular Mobilization Units (PMU)GeopoliticsSyria

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