US Bid to Prolong its Illegal Presence in Iraq

By: Kayhan International

While the Iraqi government and its official media have yet to announce the long expected closure of American occupation bases in the country, the US has again resorted to Machiavellian tactics by claiming an agreement for a partial withdrawal next year followed by departure of all Yankee troops by the end of 2026.

This is nothing short of procrastination by Washington which since the unanimous verdict of the Iraqi parliament in January 2020 for closure of US occupation bases, has exploited the unwarranted differences amongst the government apparatuses in Baghdad to prolong its illegal presence for continuation of terrorist activities in the region.
Any agreement between Baghdad and Washington should immediately end the presence of all US troops in Iraq with the binding promise not to violate the sovereignty of Iraq in support of the illegal Zionist entity’s ongoing terrorism against the Palestinian people, in whose defence the Iraqi popular mobilization units have the right to attack usurper Israel.
The patience of the Iraqi people is running thin. They have warned of resuming their right to target the US occupation forces if these bases are not closed. This time casualties are likely to turn into fatalities for the occupiers, who should prepare body bags for return home.
Moreover, under no pretext should any US troops linger in Erbil, in the semi-autonomous northern Kurdistan region, after closure of Ain al-Assad and other bases in Baghdad and elsewhere.
In the words of Prime Minister Mohammad She’a as-Sudani, the US troops are the reason for instability in Iraq.
The Iraqi authorities and the masses are well aware of the complicity of Washington in the genocide in Gaza and over eleven months of the unabated holocaust of the Palestinians, which has now expanded to the West Bank of River Jordan.
In view of these undeniable facts, any agreement that allows the US troops to remain in Iraq for a year or two is against the demands and aspirations of the Iraqi nation.\
The 2,500 odd Yankee soldiers in Iraq, along with the 900 others across the border in Syria despite the repeated calls of the Syrian government for their withdrawal, pose a grave threat to the stability of the region.
The American troops are trying to destabilize both Syria and Iraq in the vile interests of the Zionist entity and its bid to divide the Arab states by forcing some reactionary regimes to establish diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv, while backstabbing the Palestinians and weakening the Axis of Resistance.